Alone Again
by XxBeccixX
Summary: Goblet Of Fire rewrite, Harry/Cedric. Eventually M /. Harry couldn't help but worry about the safety of the Hufflepuff at the Quidditch World Cup, but could his concern go any further? And with the Triwizard Tournament looming ahead, what is in store?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It looks like I'm alone again.

Well, I guess I'm not alone in the sense of being surrounded by people every day. No, in that sense I am not alone, I have Ron and Hermione…I have the Gryffindors; I can even be classed as an extended son of the Weasley family. But I am still alone, even with Ron and Hermione around, they do not understand, but how could they? Ron has his huge loving family and is constantly showered with attention from his mother; and Hermione with her smaller, quieter family, offering her support, care and love whenever she needs it. They are not alone; not like I am.

I know what Sirius would think, what my parents would think if they knew I was having such thoughts. They would say that I am being ridiculous, that I shouldn't think about such things; that people love me as well, no matter what. I can't help it. When it's dark like this it's so easy to feel self pity, isn't it? In the darkness of my tiny little room in the Dursley's house at Privet Drive I let myself feel, really feel. I was going to escape, I had it in my grasp and then that retched Wormtail had to go and get in the way. He has stolen my new life away from me in the same way that he had stolen Sirius' from him.

I should have let him die.

He writes often. I guess that should be enough. He's well too, hasn't been caught. But I want him here, to hold the promise that he gave me. I want him to take me away. I can't help but feel like this, I don't mean to be so bitter, but it'll soon be over, I'll escape for a short while. The Quidditch World Cup is nearly here and the Weasley's are taking me, at least that's one thing to be thankful for. It'll be fun, that's for sure, nice to be part of that large unit of red headed people, treated like a son.

I just have to wait a little longer and I won't have time to dwell on this feeling of loneliness. The Weasley's won't give me time to feel like it, and Hermione will join their efforts no doubt.

Still, it doesn't matter that I'm surrounded by people. In those short but frequent silences I will be able to dwell. No one understands; I can't let them understand. If they understand they will find out exactly what I feel, and when they do it will only put them in danger…It will be my fault. So I won't let them in. I won't let them understand how I feel every waking moment. I will keep it inside me, I won't let them see. I will do nothing. I will sit and suffer in silence to protect them.

It looks like I'm alone.

But looks can be deceiving.


	2. Chapter One

**Authors Note:**

For those of you who need to know these things, yes, I spent the better part of this chapter with the book in my lap trying to make this as much like the actual storyline as I could, but no I will not be doing every chapter and yes, I will be adding more in. After all, I know I wouldn't be happy unless I had my helping of Harry/Cedric, a pairing that I have developed a passion for. So I hope you enjoy reading this new variation of The Goblet Of Fire, as I will no doubt have fun rewriting it.

P.S: I apologise for the length of this first chapter and the Prologue that came before, they will get longer as I progress, I feel that it is often necessary to start small and work your way up. Enjoy. =3

* * *

**Cedric Diggory**

Mrs Weasley had roused the group attending the Quidditch World cup at an ungodly hour and so Harry had to deal with a highly disgruntled Ron mumbling something about three in the morning not existing and claiming that whoever had come up with the order for under-age wizardry should have his wand shoved somewhere very unpleasant. The plump woman put up with his grumbling for fifteen minutes before she snapped at him to be glad that it wasn't any earlier and Ron spent the rest of breakfast glowering down at his bacon and eggs, his expression giving the impression that he was trying to set his food alight. Knowing that it was perfectly possible for his friend to do that accidentally, Harry shuffled slightly closer to Fred, eying the red-head warily, jumping when the boy on his right chuckled.

"Don't worry, he's always like this when he deems it too early to be awake, let alone out of bed," the twin mumbled, winking at Harry before shovelling a fork of his second helping of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

Glancing up at the stairwell, the raven haired boy watched as Ginny and Hermione trod drowsily into the room, the younger girl rubbing her eyes as she collapsed into a chair.

"Why do we even have to be up this early," the ginger girl complained, looking a lot like her older brother as she scowled at her orange juice, ignoring her mothers fuss about the choice off clothing she was wearing.

"It's awfully cold out there, dear…Maybe an extra layer just in case?"

"We've got a bit of a walk," Mr Weasley said quickly, sighing as Ginny swatted his wife away muttering angrily that she was not going to be seen dead in that god awful sweater their great aunt had got her for her birthday last year. The mention of walking made Ron's expression sour considerably more, and elicited a groan from Fred and George.

As Mr Weasley tried to consolidate them that it wouldn't be a long walk at all Harry watched Mrs Weasley's face blacken.

"George! What is that in your pocket?!"

"Nothing…"

"Don't lie to me young man! Accio!" Mrs Weasley snapped flicking her wand at one of the twins, an odd look of satisfaction crossing her face as several small Ton-Tongue Toffees zoomed across the room to her. The boys practically knocked Harry out of the way in their hast to reclaim their bounty.

"We told you to get rid of them! After what happen at Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house! Now empty your pockets this instant. Both of you!" she shrieked, ignoring the collective flinch from the group as she raised her voice. It was only through the use of her Summoning Charm that she managed to locate the rest, some hiding in the most unlikely of places, the turn-ups of Fred's jeans for one.

"We spent months developing those!" the boy shouted as she threw the discriminating sweets in the bin, lurching to his feet, hands clenched at his sides.

"What a fine way to spend your time! No wonder you did so badly in your O.W.L's!"

"We did fine!" George yelled back, hopping to his feet to defend himself and his brother.

It was then that Harry excused himself from the table with the pretext that he had forgotten to pack something and he really couldn't leave it behind. It was only when Mrs Weasley called him back down ten minutes after the shouting had finished and he mumbled indistinguishably that he couldn't find what he had wanted to did he leave the safety of Ron's room. The red-head in question had seen through his guise and seemed to hold his friend responsible for not taking him with him, leaving him in no-man's-land between his bickering mother and brothers. Ginny and Hermione were still too disgruntled at being awake to care and the twins were quietly cursing their parent's under their breath with a highly colourful use of words as they stalked down the path.

Consequentially the atmosphere when they left the house half an hour later wasn't pleasant and it didn't lift at all during the journey. Harry had tried to get a better understanding of how so many wizards could congregate at one place without being discovered. He was given a long winded answer from Mr Weasley, one that he found enlightening but seemed to bore the others, even Hermione, who seemed to be dealing with some kind of stitch in her side.

By the time the group reached the top of Stoatshead Hill Harry was sporting a stitch of his own and Hermione and Ginny practically dragged themselves to the crest. Breathing heavily Mr Weasley looked around for a moment before gesturing for them to spread out, wiping his glasses off on his sweater.

"Now all we need is the Portkey. It won't be very big…Come on..." he sighed, ambling through the tufts of grass, squinting through the half light for some kind of object. An elated cry from the opposite side of the hill caught their attention and Harry's eyes were greeted by two silhouettes.

"Amos!" Mr Weasley called and quickly strode towards the pair, clapping the taller of the two on the back and shaking the man's hand vigorously.

"This is Amos Diggory everyone. He works with me at the Ministry, and of course I think you know his son Cedric."

Harry walked slowly behind the group, trying desperately to blend into the background and be missed, after his miserable defeat by Hufflepuff last year when he'd fainted during their Quidditch match he'd tried to keep his head down. The boy in front of them had even gone as far as to apologise for the match's outcome and told him he'd tried to forfeit the game on the terms that it was unjust. That was the last thing the Gryffindor Seeker had wanted to hear, after all, he wanted nothing better than to hate Cedric like his team did, and the boy had made it so difficult. He hadn't wanted reminding of the humiliating event either and merely mumbled his thanks; he walked on, leaving the Sixth year standing in the middle of the corridor watching after him.

The Gryffindor could easily see why Cedric had gained the nickname pretty-boy and less used one 'Hufflepuff Hottie'. The boy was tall, his frame slender but muscular, the kind of body that would suggest fragile but prove to be something else entirely. His hair was a dark blonde in colour, reminding Harry of ripe corn, his eyes a stormy grey that shined beneath dark eyelashes, in contrast to his fairer hair. The raven haired boy couldn't help but admire the high cheekbones and slightly hollowed cheeks, rosy from the climb, and his lips a soft pink, his lower slightly redder from his constant worrying.

"Hi," Cedric said quietly, nodding to the group, his unnerving gaze falling on Harry and he extended his hand to him.

If anything, Cedric's looks had improved since the Gryffindorseeker had last seen him; his hair was ruffled slightly and Harry noticed that it was a nervous habit of his to run his fingers through his hair; his other sign was biting his lower lip. The raven haired boy couldn't help but remember that the last time he had seen the other attractive Hufflepuff was when it had been raining. The image of Cedric talking to him quietly about the match with his back pressed against a wall, with his hair glistening and his eyelashes speckled with rain drops, shining like diamonds came unbidden to his head. He could remember so clearly the smell of the other boy's skin and the way his clothing had stuck to his slender frame. Flushing slightly and questioning himself angrily about why such an image should come into his head at all, let alone now, he shook the Hufflepuff's hand, secretly enjoying the boy's firm grip.

When Harry didn't let go after the first four shakes a light blush rose on Cedric's chiselled cheekbones and for a brief moment Harry worried that perhaps he had held onto his hand a little too long. He recoiled from the other boy's warm grasp, nodding his apology before shuffling towards Fred and George, who were eying the Hufflepuff with barely concealed distain. His eyes met the beautiful grey for a moment before Cedric's blush deepened and he turned away to look out over the scenery, mumbling in response to something his father had said.

It was then Harry realised Arthur Weasley was introducing them and it took a further few seconds to comprehend Amos' exclamation. Tearing his eyes from the sky, or rather Cedric's still form, he offered the man an uncomfortable smile, shuffling slightly as he was treated like an interesting specimen.

"Merlin's beard!" the man said in astonishment, his eyes widening, "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er – Yeah," Harry mumbled awkwardly, glancing at Arthur for some kind of assistance, but before the red-headed man could say anything, Cedric had hit his father gently on the arm, giving him a reproachful look.

"Ced's talked all about you, of course," said Amos, ignoring his son's warning expression, his voice raising slightly to a more boisterous level, "Told us all about playing against you last year…I said to him – I said – Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will…You beat Harry Potter!"

For a moment the group stood in stunned silence, the twins glowering at Cedric who looked mortified that his father had actually said that in public. Looking down at the ground and kicking at a tuft of grass he took a deep breath, shaking his head at his parent's lack of tactful conversation. Harry couldn't help but feel humiliated for him.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he muttered, face once again tinged with red. "I told you…It was an accident."

"Yes, but _you_ didn't fall off, did you," Amos roared, oblivious to the discomfort that had fallen on the group and his son's humiliated expression, "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman…But the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on; you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"Drop it, Dad," the Hufflepuff mumbled, glancing at Harry from beneath his eyelashes, flinching when his father placed an arm round his shoulder.

"No need to be modest, Ced, you can boast once in a while! No one will-"

"I said, drop it," Cedric snapped, shrugging the man's arm off and folding his own across his chest tightly.

"Must be nearly time," Mr Weasley said quickly to cover the awkward silence that had fallen over the gathering, pulling Amos back to his senses by asking: "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"

"No, no, no. The Lovegoods are already there and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets. There aren't anymore in the area are there?"

"Not that I know of," Arthur muttered, frowning at his pocket watch, "Yes, it's a minute off; we'd better get ready…"

The group hurriedly moved into position, glad for some movement after such a long time just standing around, and though it was a tight fit with nine large camping rucksacks, they managed to form a tight circle around the boot that Amos Diggory was holding out.

"Three…"

Glancing up, Harry noticed Cedric was opposite him, chewing his lower lip nervously and stared for a few seconds before the boy noticed and smiled at him. Harry managed a half smile in return before turning to Hermione, who had elbowed him and was now watching him curiously. Ignoring her, he looked back to see Cedric was no longer smiling.

"Two…"

"Sorry," he mouthed, casting a sidewardglance at his dad before the smile became sad. Harry felt his stomach churn with butterflies before nodding once to show he understood. In real life, he had no idea how a parent could behave, but still, he didn't want to be rude and it wasn't like Cedric had wanted Amos to say that.

"One"

It was then the butterflies disappeared and were replaced by the feeling of a hook behind his naval, forcing him on towards the inevitable.


	3. Chapter Two

**Authors Note:** I'm sorry that this took me so long to get up! I've been bogged down with so much work, clubs, performances and God-knows what else...So, here it is and I'm rather glad to see the back of it if I'm honest, I do like the way it turned out, but still...I'm sure how the Harry and Cedric 'heart-to-heart' went. Please review! =3 Enjoy!

* * *

**Apologies**

It happened immediately. His feet had left the ground and he could feel Ron and Hermione one either side of him, their shoulders banging into his; they were speeding forwards in a howl of wind and swirling colour; his forefinger stuck to the boot as though it was pulling him magnetically onwards and then –

His feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into him and he fell over, the Portkey hitting the floor by his head with a heavy thud.

Harry looked up. Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and Cedric where still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground. Blinking, he pushed himself into a sitting position and in a heartbeat the handsome Hufflepuff had extended a hand to help him to his feet, glistening grey eyes locked on his face.

Harry felt a hot blush rise to his cheeks and slowly took the limb, using it to pull himself up, but he overcompensated and ended up propelling himself into the other boy. The blush deepened and cracking his eyes open he looked up at Cedric, expecting him to be laughing, or cringing. Instead, the boy was stiff, his eyes now on his, almost searching, his Adam's-Apple bobbing as he gulped, teeth moving to worry his lip.

The Gryffindor felt his heart rate double into a faltering prance, thudding against his chest in irregular beats and despite himself his eyes moved from Cedric's chest to the other's lips. It felt like his heart was trying to escape and burst from his ribcage, and with his chest pressed so firmly against the Hufflepuff's it was a wonder the boy couldn't feel it. If he did, Cedric didn't give any warning that he had, for which Harry was silently grateful. Instead, a pair of strong hands found Harry's shoulders and he was slowly righted, the hold remaining until he met the boy's emotional, turbulent eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, brushing himself down, glancing around to check no one had seen the strange exchange between them. No one had, and it was then he realised that it had only been a few seconds, even though it had felt like a century for him. He looked up opening his mouth to thank Cedric, but the boy was already gone, striding gracefully along besides his father.

Silently moaning to himself about how he wished he had such grace, Harry glanced at Hermione again; who was staring at him. Her eyes narrowing suspiciously at whatever thought had gone through her head. Shrugging to her, Harry quickly bounded to her side.

Mr Weasley appeared to know where he was going and Harry trudged along behind the group, alternating glances at the ground, Cedric and Hermione. He was painfully aware of the curious looks she kept giving him and forced his gaze to remain on the ground. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Wrong idea…

_Is it really the wrong idea?_ A small voice in his head asked._ That's exactly what you want isn't it? How could it be wrong?_

'Shut up,' Harry thought, his expression darkening until both Ron and Hermione were looking at him, this time in concern.

_Don't try and deny it we both know that you –_

'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!'

_Like him._

'I'M NOT GAY!'

The force of his mental shout surprised Harry and he looked round quickly to check he hadn't shouted it out loud. Sighing angrily, his thrust his hands in his pockets and continued to glower at the ground, refraining from snapping at Hermione to stop looking at him like he was about to attack someone.

_Yeah, sure._

'And what's that supposed to mean?!'

_You'll see…_

He was taken by surprise when he collided with something very firm but strangely soft. It was then he saw a pair of feet and, face burning, he knew instantly who he had walked into…again.

Cedric was smiling faintly down at him when he finally plucked up the courage to look up at the boy. Harry frowned slightly; did this guy make no noise at all? It was like he just appeared out of no where.

"Throwing yourself at me again, Harry?" he murmured softly, his beautiful voice barely a whisper and slightly husky. Despite his best efforts not to, Harry swooned.

"Come on, Ced!" Amos called irritably, apparently he hadn't forgotten about the way his son had snapped at him earlier.

"Coming," Cedric shouted and turned back to Harry, the faint smile widening into a grin, shaking his hand again. "That's the second time you've fallen into me, I'd be careful, I might get ideas…It was nice seeing you again, Harry -" and then, dropping his voice, he murmured " - Perhaps we can see each other soon."

Then, winking, Cedric Diggory turned and jogged after his father's retreating figure, leaving Harry gapping after him with a scrunched up piece of parchment in his hand.

Casting an apprehensive look at his group, Harry started walking, tagging along at the back while he unfolded the thick paper. What was written on it astounded the raven haired boy so much that he had to read it a further two times before he realised what was being asked of him.

_Harry,_

_I know we haven't exactly been good friends, but I'd like to apologise for how my father behaved today. It was completely unacceptable. Would you be able to meet me by the forest at the edge of your campsite at about three? If you don't want to I understand, really I do, you're here with your friends and the last thing you probably want to do is spend your time with me…But I'd really like to talk to you. I want to apologise properly._

_I'll be waiting._

_Cedric._

Harry's gut twisted slightly as he reread the last line. Cedric would be waiting fro him? He felt his heart break into a gallop about being alone with the older boy and once again he received a fleeting image of the boy sodden with rain, smiling sadly down at him as he tried to apologise. This time he wouldn't run off. Maybe…He'd only run off the last time because he'd been scared of what might have happened if he'd stayed…

No! It was stupid to think that. He wasn't gay…No, definitely not…Was he?

Maybe he was gay…But if he was, then Cedric definitely wouldn't be, he was too good to be gay. And if he was gay, he was too good for Harry…He didn't stand a chance. It sickened him to the core. Realising that the idea of not having Cedric around made him dizzy, Harry submitted to the voice in his head. He liked the Hufflepuff. He lived everything about him; the boy's strong but slender build, the way he towered over Harry, the way his lips curved when he smiled crookedly at him…The way he smelt.

_Told you, _the voice murmured smugly to him. His lip curled in distaste at being proved wrong, even if it was by his own mind, Harry quickly shoved the note into his back pocket, watching Mr Weasley struggle with the Muggle money he was carrying. The balding man quickly approached him with a pleading look in his eye, and sighing Harry held his hand out for the wad of notes.

Three o'clock couldn't come quick enough.

* * *

When Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch had finally left, Harry had mumbled something about wanting to look around and jogged off before anyone could say anything. After a few minutes of wandering and meandering through the many tents in the field they were camping in, Harry finally saw the forest. Glancing down at his watch, his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch; he had ten minutes and had no idea where he was going.

Tugging the scrunched up note from his pocket, the Gryffindor re-read the elegant writing on the page, wondering when Cedric had wrote this. Deciding the other toffee-haired boy was a mystery, Harry sighed, it didn't say where to meet, just to meet, and did he have to get closer to the forest?

Scanning the trees, Harry's heart jumped into his throat; pacing back and forth a few meters from his heading was Cedric. The boy looked nervous, but it didn't ruin his looks in any way, his hands were clasped firmly behind his back, only moving to ruffle his hair, his strides were long and level, and even from here with his poor eye sight, Harry could tell he was worrying his lower lip into bloody submission.

His gut churned painfully and suddenly he was assaulted by the desire to run, to hide, to preserve his feelings and stop himself being humiliated. But Cedric was so nice and friendly…Surely if things went badly, which they no doubt would with his luck, the boy wouldn't make it any worse for him…Would he?

Of course not, that was a ridiculous thought. Cedric would never hurt anyone.

Staring at the figure, Harry realised that the boy had stopped pacing and was waving to him, gesturing for him to come over. Taking a wary step forward, the Gryffindor beat the worries away and pushed them until they were to the farthest reaches of his mind, so they were nothing more than soft whispers.

Finding no reason to forestall the inevitable, after all if he left now he would probably hurt Cedric's feelings again, like he had at Hogwarts that year, Harry jogged towards the lone figure. By the time he reached him, Cedric has settled himself comfortably on the ground, lazily leaning back on the grass, staring at the sky. He was the epiphany of nonchalance, and Harry felt his pulse quicken when the bronze – haired boy grinned at him.

"You came."

The breathless exhilaration in the Hufflepuff's voice made Harry's gut clench and he smiled slightly in return. The way Cedric had said it, it was almost as though he had thought he wouldn't come, and as if he was glad he had. He had to be imagining it. The idea that Cedric was being anything more than polite was too surreal to think about.

"Yeah…You invited me didn't you?" Harry mumbled, allowing himself to be pulled into a sitting position next to the older boy, a slight blush crawling up the back of his neck.

"I guess I did," Cedric mused with another gut-churn-inducing smile, shrugging slightly. "I just thought you'd be too busy with your friends to bother with me, that's all. I'm not exactly worth your time."

"I wouldn't say that," Harry said far too quickly, and blushed a little harder under the intense, curious gaze the Hufflepuff set on him. "I mean, you're a good guy, Cedric, you tried to forfeit the match last year and you defended me against your dad. You're not exactly worthless…"

_Not like me._ He added in his mind, stupid pitiful Harry who was doomed to a life alone, forever. His existence was nothing more than a few short happy encounters that disappeared as quickly as they came. It was better that way. He couldn't hurt anyone else.

Cedric seemed to droop at his comments and smiled again, this time a little sadder as he squeezed a blade of grass between his thumb and forefinger, tugging it from the ground.

"I'm sorry about my dad, Harry. That's partly why I bought you here, I wanted to apologise properly; he was out of line. Saying that in the privacy of your own home is one thing, and I hate it when he does, but saying it in front of other people, in front of that person in fact, is inexcusable. Sometimes he gets carried away with his praise for me…" Cedric mumbled bitterly, resting his forearms on his knees.

"It's always, Ced does this and Ced does that…I love him, really I do, but he drives me insane! He doesn't even care how much it embarrasses me either, as long as people have no doubt in their mind that I'm a great son, you know?"

Harry nodded; frowning slightly, painfully aware, as he had been earlier, that he had no idea how this boy felt. He felt his stomach lurch as Cedric turned his gaze to him, another apology in his eyes, but the raven – haired boy didn't care that the older boy was telling him all of this, in fact, he felt his chest warm at the idea that Cedric was confiding in him over his other friends.

"Sorry, Harry, I shouldn't bog you down with all this, you don't have any parents…You must think I'm being spoilt moaning about my dad like that," Cedric sighed with another shrug, glancing down to see he'd created a small pile of grass next to him.

"No…I don't, I…Understand, kind of. I mean, I know how I feel when Mr and Mrs Weasley get too overbearing. I feel a little…belittled, worthless. It seems to be only me, Ron doesn't feel it that much and Hermione not at all…I guess I just get annoyed when they treat me like a child, I keep thinking that they should just let me get on with it…I mean I practically looked after myself the first eleven years of my life." Harry said quietly, startling himself at exactly how much he was telling the older boy. He'd never told anyone this. Not even Ron and Hermione.

"I like the way they want to look after me, I like the way they care about me, but sometimes they try to stop me doing things I have always done…It gets tiring."

Cedric was nodding; staring at him with sympathetic and understanding eyes, there was also the hint of pity, something that Harry didn't want to see in the other's gaze. Giving him a hardened shrug, the Gryffindor folded his arms and looked out over the tents in front of them. There was a long silence that seemed to settle between them like a breathing creature and when he looked back he found the older boy still looking at him, the pity gone and replace by concern and empathy. Cedric was worrying his lower lip again.

"You don't need to be worried about me. I'm fine. I can look after myself and I don't really care about my parent's not being around," Harry stated feeling a stab of doubt in his chest as though someone had slid a dagger between his ribs. His parent's death did bother him. It bothered him so much that the Dementors made him relive it every time they came too close for comfort.

"I know, Harry, but I never did say…I'm sorry about your parent's dying, and perhaps I'm reading too deeply, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it does bother you."

Damn, when did Cedric get so observant? Or was he always this easy to read? It was probably the latter, Hermione often read him like an open book. Sighing, Harry looked at the stormy grey eyes swimming with indecipherable emotions and nodded once.

"A little."

"Want to talk about it?"

Harry paused but it was in vain, a sentence was already formed in his mind before he could question his desire to tell the older boy anything.

"I don't really remember them, I was only one…But the Dementors made me remember their voices, the things they said before Voldemort murdered them," Harry started flatly, staring into space, blocking out the flinching presence next to him and let the numb feeling of renewed loss wash over him, "I could hear my dad telling my mum to run, to take me and run, then I'd just hear my mum screaming and begging him to kill her and let me live…I listened to her die."

Cedric was silent for a few moments, his hand running through his hair while he chewed on his lower lip once again, staring at him with barely masked horror. Harry could tell what he was thinking: How could he say it so calmly without breaking down? In honesty, it was because he wouldn't let the emotions out, they were locked away, and feeling one of them would only open the flood gate and he would drown in them all, every last one.

"Is that what happened when you fell off your broom in the match?"

"Yep."

"Damn…Now I feel even worse."

"Don't," Harry said firmly with a forced smile of his own, "You tried to forfeit the match and you tried to set things right. You're a true Hufflepuff, Cedric."

A genuine smile possessed the older boy's face when he spoke the last sentence, and Cedric leant back into the grass, staring at the sky again, the expression never leaving his lips.

"Thanks, Harry…That means a lot."


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's Note:** Wow, this one was really great fun to write! I'd like to thank A Silver Dragon and Cednova11 for their comments, it's because of them that this even out this fast. I just couldn't wait to see what you thought of it.

I know Cedric doesn't actually appear after the Weasleys and Diggorys split into different camps, but I couldn't help but write in a protective Hufflepuff at the end, after all, they are loyal!

Also, I find myself thinking that maybe I need a Beta...I'm prone to not paying much attention to my spelling and sometimes I put too much in a chapter. Often I just want to get these things out and even though it would slow down the up-dating process, I think it would be helpful to have one! If anyone is interested, but drop me a PM or put it in the review and I'll pick. Enjoy! =3

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**The Quidditch World Cup**

Harry had told no one where he'd been the entire afternoon and used the excuse that he had gotten lost, which the twins enjoyed poking at him while Ginny and Hermione bemoaned the fact he had missed an interesting conversation with some Irish witches. Having bought numerous souvenirs from the vendor outside of the humongous Quidditch pitch, the small group excitedly started ascending the stairs to the Top Box, Hermione on his right side talking to Ginny and Ron on his left chatting animatedly about the Bulgarian seeker, Victor Krum.

"He's only eighteen you know, a stunning seeker, the best there is. He's even better than you Harry-"

Harry wasn't listening though; he was too busy scanning the hundreds of heads around him for the bronze-haired boy he'd spent the afternoon with. His mind wandered to the way Cedric had smiled at him when he'd said he was a good guy, a true Hufflepuff. The older boy had seemed pleased with his analysis and gave the impression that he wasn't told that often. Strange, didn't Amos say anything like that? Or did he never praise Cedric, merely boasted about him to friends and family? He was poked in the centre of his forehead suddenly; pulled viciously from his thoughts and he jumped, looking round to see a disgruntled Ron glaring at him.

He realised that he had slowed to little more than a crawl and that Mr Weasley, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Charlie, Percy and Bill were all on the next set of stairs.

"You're not listening to me are you?" Ron groused, folding his arms as they jogged to catch up, gently squeezing themselves through gaps that didn't exist.

"Yeah, you were talking about Krum."

Ron scowled and pushed past a mother and her son, ignoring the torrent of curses that followed him. Harry quickly apologised and jogged after him. The red-head's behaviour seemed to offend one woman in particular and she turned on Ron, seething and waving her wand threateningly.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, you little toad?! We **all** want to watch the match and nothing gives you the right to push in front!" she hissed vehemently.

"Our dad is -" Ron started angrily, but on seeing the furious look in the woman's eye, Harry covered his mouth.

"Sorry."

Smiling apologetically, Harry dragged Ron away from the female, waiting until they were a good distance away before letting his hand drop from the red-head's face.

"Stupid old hag!" He snapped, glaring at the woman's back, the expression of willing her on fire once again in his eye.

"Shut up, 'little toad', you're going to get us both in trouble," Harry muttered, hitting his friend's shoulder gently.

"Whatever, Harry…"

"Well don't look at me when you get hexed, it'll be your own fault."

Ron's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to snap something, but his brothers beat him to it. Fred and George were lounging over the railing above them, throwing confetti down onto Harry's head, the silver and green catching in his hair.

"Come on, Harry!" George shouted, grinning widely, his twin sharing the elated expression.

"Yeah," Fred continued, "You wouldn't want to get lost again!"

Chuckling loudly, the pair practically skipped away, leaving Harry and Ron to walk slowly after their retreating forms. The red-head next to him seemed to have forgotten his irritation and was talking about which seeker would catch the snitch first.

"Of course it'll be Krum, I mean, Lynch is a great seeker and everything, but Krum is like a bird on that broom. The Irish have no chance against talent like that…"

"I think you're in love, Ron," Harry smirked, patting his friend on the shoulder, his eyes scanning the gathered witches and wizards once again. The other boy's ears turned red and he pushed Harry playfully.

"I'm not, I just appreciate talent."

"Sure you do, Ron."

Rolling his eyes, Harry watched his friend jog to catch up with Hermione and let himself be swept up in the crowd, ignoring the gasps and stares he was accumulating. He was used to them. It wasn't until a hand rested on a shoulder that he looked round, his eyes met with golden-brown and stormy grey. Cedric.

"Everyone's looking at you," the Hufflepuff chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets as he strode along beside the raven-haired boy.

"I'm used to it," Harry mumbled with a shrug, glaring at a girl his age who was gaping at him and not even bothering to hide it. She blushed slightly at his expression and turned, muttering something to the woman beside her, obviously her mother from the hair colour, gesturing vaguely in his direction. Irritation bubbled in his chest and he folded his arms, scowling slightly, "Where's your dad?"

"He's already at the seats; I wanted to buy a Shamrock and a flag. So he gave me my ticket and went off to find them. He's up there, see?" Cedric explained, pointing to Amos Diggory who was talking with a short wizard and beaming at the willowy witch beside him.

"You rooting for Ireland then?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to the handsome boy walking next to him.

"Yep, you?"

"Same. Ron wants me to support Bulgaria though, he's in lust with the seeker," Harry stated with a dramatic roll of his eyes.

"He is good," Cedric affirmed.

"So I've been told."

Cedric started chuckling again, leaning down to point out the group of foreign wizards pointing at Harry excited.

"You create a lot of attention, Potter."

"For the love of Merlin, do they have nothing better to do?!" Harry sighed in exasperation, his hand rising to his hair to flatten his fringe. The movement only seemed to spur the group on and they burst into conversation, shooting him admiring looks. Harry couldn't tell what they were saying, but he could hear his name between the nonsense they were speaking.

"I guess they haven't seen something as gorgeous as you before…" Cedric continued with a bright, teasing smile, Harry's heart skipped a beat. Gorgeous? He had to be mocking him, there was no way he could be serious. Cedric stopped to stare at his father who seemed to have noticed him and was now calling and pointing to the exit above, "The confetti in your hair, it looks nice with your eyes, makes them stand out…It's a good look for you. You look…lovely."

As if to prove a point, Harry's eyes shimmered with confusion as Cedric patted his shoulder, and before Harry could string a sentence together, the boy had winked and jogged off with a wave of farewell.

"See ya later, Harry!"

Despite the crowd around him, everything fell silent. Smiling slightly, Harry followed Cedric with his eyes until he'd disappeared from sight.

"See ya later, Cedric," he mumbled.

"Harry!"

Looking up, the Gryffindor saw Hermione and Ginny standing on the staircase above, gesturing for him to hurry up. Grinning, Harry saw the climb would be over, and with renewed spring in his step, he bounded up to his friends.

Harry spent an embarrassing portion of the match with his Omnioculars glued, not to the players, but to a seventeen year old boy in the stands one floor below his own. Whenever Ireland pulled a particularly spectacular move, he would jerk his head to capture Cedric Diggory's response, usually a wide grin, and the occasional call of encouragement. He had an Irish flag wrapped round his shoulders and someone seemed to have painted smaller versions on his cheeks since they had spoken on the staircase. Unconsciously, Harry raised a hand and ran his fingers through his hair, smiling when he realised the confetti was still there.

When Lynch fell victim to the Wronski Feint he watched the boy's face fall and groan with his father, his own pair of Omniocular's held in front of his eyes. Harry knew that if he ever looked back on the match through the strange magical device he would find the event broken up with fleeting glances at the bronze-haired boy, and he couldn't find it in him to care. He'd 'oh'ed and gasped, hissed and booed with the thousands of witches and wizards in the stadium, but when the end finally came, he had eyes only for the celebrating Hufflepuff, who was jumping up and down elatedly next to his father.

His attention was diverted to Hermione and Ron, who had their arms round his neck, and laughing he let himself wash away. He was pulled into a jesting hug by Fred and George, who ruffled his hair and slammed his Shamrock hat onto his messy locks. Mr Weasley, Percy, Charlie and Bill all shook his hand with the same thrilled grin. Ginny launched herself at him and wrapped her arms round his neck; he couldn't help but blush slightly when the smaller girl brushed her lips against his cheek, unaware of the jealous stormy grey eyes watching him.

* * *

"Get up! Ron – Harry – come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Harry sat up quickly and the top of his head hit the canvas. His brain still wasn't functioning, rationality and comprehension trying to catch up with his dazed mind. Part of him almost wanted to shout at Mr Weasley for waking him up.

"'S'matter?" he said, rubbing his eyes as the balding man shook his son awake, interrupting the constant snores and heavy breathing. Ron grunted and a hand appeared from beneath the quilt, batting his father away. Mr Weasley made an impatient noise, somewhere between a sigh and a growl and flicked his wand irritably, sending the sheets soaring from the bed, leaving a blinking Ron staring at the mattress above his head.

As his mind slowly kicked into drive, Harry recognised that something was definitely wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of people running in desperation.

He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, Ron following suit, but Mr Weasley, who had pulled his jeans on over his pyjamas shook his head and pointed to the exit.

"No time, Harry – just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"

Harry did as he was told, and hurried out of the tent, Ron following closely behind him.

By the light of the few fires that were still burning, Harry saw that people were crying out and running towards the woods, fleeing from the force that was making its way across the field after them. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight up, was marching towards them with drunken jeers and roars of laughter.

More wizards joined the marching group, pointing and laughing at the four figures above them. Tents crumpled before them, and every now and then a marcher would blast a tent out of his path with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming got louder.

Cedric.

The image of Cedric Diggory jumping excitedly in celebration flashed into Harry's mind. Cedric smiling. Cedric talking. Cedric's eyes locked on his. Where was he? Was he in harms way or already safe? Sickening worry took root in his stomach, and he turned his head this way and that, trying to make out the screaming people's faces in the light of the jinxes and hexes being shot from the group.

It was stupid to look here.

Cedric would not be running.

Cedric would be trying to help.

Harry prayed to whatever God there was that Amos had forced his son to go to safety.

Hermione and Ginny were hurrying to join the small gathering while pulling coats on over their nightdresses. Harry hadn't even realised that Fred and George had joined them, he'd been too busy worrying about the bronze-haired Hufflepuff. Mr Weasley jogged after the two girls and at the same moment, Bill, Charlie and Percy emerged from the tent fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.

"We're going to help the Ministry," Mr Weasley shouted over the commotion, gripping Ginny's arm and forcing her into Fred - or was it George's? - grip. "Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility. Now, everyone, get into the woods, and _stick together_! I'll come and get you when this has been settled!"

With barely a second look at the group, Mr Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy were sprinting towards the advancing crowd.

"C'mon," Fred said quietly and grabbing Ginny's hand tightly in one hand, he jogged towards the forest. George quickly caught up and took Ginny's other hand, boxing her between their bodies, holding her up when she faltered. Ron and Hermione shared a strained look before they both ran after them. Harry hesitated; the desire to make sure Cedric was alright and out of harms way overwhelmed all of his senses.

"Harry!" Hermione called suddenly, "We have to go!"

He'd be alright. Cedric was brilliant, a great wizard. He'd be fine. Repeating the chant in his head, Harry turned and bolted after his friends, glancing back at the four Muggles being spun in the air.

Somehow in the time span of ten minutes, Harry, Ron and Hermione had been separated from Fred, George and Ginny and had a nasty run in with Draco Malfoy. Logic had dictated that they run further into the woods to avoid detection and the others finding Harry, or rather, that was Hermione's logic. Harry would have preferred being around the other people who knew more magic than a trio of third years, there was also the deep rooted hope that he would run into Cedric if he did.

"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione and squinting around the surrounding area. Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own wand – but it wasn't there. The only things he could find were a few sweet wrappers and his Omnioculars.

"No!" he groaned, pulling the pockets out in desperation, "I don't believe it! I've lost my damn wand!"

"You're kidding?" Ron asked, looking at him, but seeing the look on Harry's face, he and Hermione raised their wand's high enough to spread narrow light on the surrounding ground. Harry's wand was nowhere to be found.

"Maybe it's back at the tent?"

"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested nervously.

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, "Maybe…"

A rustling noise behind them made the three jump and Ron and Hermione trained their wands on the offending bush. Harry felt defenceless. Winky, the house-elf they had met in the top box earlier, burst from the leaves, panting, running as though she were moving against a rubber band that wanted nothing more than to snap her back.

"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked, her pace not slowing for a second, "People high – High in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"

As the small house-elf disappeared, Ron voiced his curiosity to her strange running, which Harry answered, regretting it almost immediately as Hermione started on about 'elf – rights'. They set off again at another loud bang, and Harry continued to search his pockets even though he knew his wand wasn't in them.

Perhaps it was because he was on edge, but Harry couldn't help but feel that there was someone else around. His suspicions were confirmed when a twig snapped behind them and grabbing Ron's wand wrist, Harry turned and shed light on a very familiar face. It was the same face he'd been seeing a lot of recently.

"Harry? Ron? Hermione?" the soft voice asked, the wand lowering slowly as their eyes adjusted.

"Cedric?" the Gryffindor asked warily, stepping forward one pace to get a better look. Cedric was fine, he looked a little dishevelled, his hair had leaves in it and the Irish flags that had been painted on his cheeks were smudged, but he was otherwise unharmed. The boy nodded and they both broke out into a relieved grin. He'd been worrying for nothing. Of course Cedric would be alright. He was…Cedric.

"You lot got out safe then?" the Hufflepuff asked, his eyes still locked on Harry's face. Despite the situation, Harry felt his cheeks heat with a blush and he nodded.

"Yeah, we all got out safe."

Another loud bang echoed from the side of the wood.

"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" Ron mumbled and he gently nudged Hermione to start walking. Harry remained a few steps behind with Cedric, letting the assured air that the boy gave off settle his nerves and the light from his wand guide his way.

"Where's you wand?"

"Lost it…" Harry grumbled staring at the ground.

"Oh…"

They fell into silence and followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George and Ginny. Suddenly they entered a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, they saw three tall and beautiful Veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards. Each of the men were talking loudly and trying to out-do each other with ridiculous claims that got more and more outlandish.

Harry snorted when he realised the one who claimed he would become the youngest Minister for Magic was none other than Stan Shunpike, the conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus. He was about the tell Ron, but the red-head's face had gone oddly slack, and the next thing they knew Ron was yelling.

"Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?!"

Harry almost started laughing, but felt a stab of jealousy when he noticed Cedric was gazing at the three breath-taking creatures with the same expression.

"_Honestly!_" Hermione hissed and she gripped Ron's arm and dragged him away, Harry following closely behind, towing a slightly dazed Cedric behind him in much the same way.

It took the boy a few minutes to shake the effect off, but when he did, Cedric smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about that, Harry," he mumbled, looking a little embarrassed that a younger boy had had to drag him away from a trio of Veela, "But thank you for getting me out of there before I said something stupid."

"No problem," Harry muttered icily, watching Cedric frown in confusion at the sudden change of his mood.

"I reckon we can just wait here now, we'll hear anyone coming a mile off."

His words were instantly contradicted by a pale, strained looking Ludo Bagman, who appeared from the trees ahead of them. The man shared a few brief sentences with the four teenagers, then Disapparated. Hermione sighed and settled herself down by the base of a tree and leant back against the trunk, Ron taking a defensive seat a few feet next to her.

Harry and Cedric exchanged an awkward look, before the pair sat down a meter apart, both staring into different parts of the surrounding woodland.

"Those poor Muggles," said Hermione nervously, "What if they can't get them down?"

"They will," Ron said reassuringly, patting her arm lightly, "They'll find a way."

"Mad though. To do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic is –"

But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Both Harry and Cedric jumped to their feet and followed her gaze. It sounded like someone was staggering towards their clearing. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt.

"Hello?" Harry called.

There was silence, and though he couldn't see very far, he felt that there was someone lurking just beyond the range of his vision.

"Who's there?" Cedric demanded his wand clenched in his hand.

The silence continued, then, without warning, the silence was rent by a hoarse voice. It uttered a word, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.

"MORSMORDRE!"

Something vast, green and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness, and for a split second Harry thought it was another Leprechaun formation. Then he realised that this was no configuration. It was a colossal skull, composed of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent producing from its mouth like a tongue.

Cedric and Ron were staring wide-eyed with open horror at the sign, Hermione plucking at his jacket desperately.

"What's wrong?"

"It's the Dark Mark, Harry! You-Know-Who's sign!"

Harry blinked, Cedric was beside him, pulling on his arm to try and get him to move but his eyes were only for that glistening blot on the night sky.

"Voldermort…"

A series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty or so wizards; and for a split second Harry only registered one thing: each of these wizards had their wands out, and every one was pointed at their group. Without pausing to think, Harry pushed Ron and Hermione to the floor, yelling

"DUCK!"

"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices, and Harry was thrown to the ground by strong hands as a series of red flashes shot over their heads. Harry was dimly aware of a body on his back. Cedric's body, his hard chest pressed against his spine, arms spread protectively above him.

"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognised. "STOP! _That's my son!_"

The rest of the proceedings were a blur as Cedric lifted his crushing weight and Harry rolled over. Swallowing thickly, Harry looked up to see that Cedric Diggory was straddling his waist, his arms supporting him either side of his body, and his face was inches from his.


	5. Chapter Four

**Author's Note:** As the title would suggest this is a slightly angsty chapter. Why? I have no idea, I am currently a very happy individual, but this has been in my mind for a while. To me, Harry is a very insecure boy who feels wronged in life. This comes from my own opinion about his character and I write a such. I guess I just wanted to kick the dog while he was down before I give him the best thing he is ever going to have in his entire life. (Yes my dear Het lovers, that includes Ginny.)

As for Cedric's behaviour, it killed me to do it, but it had to happen, everything will be explained in the next chapter. Thank you so much for all of your reviews and support, it was because of them I got this up as quickly as I did. Enjoy! =3

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* * *

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**End Of Holiday Gloom**

Harry and Cedric couldn't have gotten out of the compromising position quickly enough, but instead of being ushered to safety, they were bombarded with questions and accusations. It had taken half an hour to sort the problem out and for a solution to present itself. Mr Weasley had somehow managed to explain to Barty Crouch that the four teenagers hadn't summoned the Dark Mark, and the evidence had later pointed to the house-elf Winky who had been found with his wand.

Hermione had been hysterical the entire walk back and while Ron was worried, but they both seemed to have enough sense to leave him to walk besides Cedric. Harry, in comparison, didn't care about the sign still looming above them. He was too busy trying to keep his mind off of the body striding next to him, muscles taut with concern, adrenaline and slight exhaustion from the night.

Neither of them spoke.

Harry was still slightly annoyed with Cedric about his reaction to the Veela, though he had no reason to feel…Jealous. It wasn't like they were in any form of relationship.

As for Cedric. The older boy was silent and barely glanced at Harry through the entire journey, the air of contained confusion and concern around him like an extra layer of clothing.

Amos Diggory had practically strangled his son when they'd finally got back to the campsite; the man had apparently been going spare when Cedric disappeared. The boy mumbling something about feeling duty bound as the oldest to check up on the Weasley kids. Amos was practically glowing with pride and looked round expectantly at them all. It had taken him a moment to realise that the man wanted a thank you, and Harry quickly gave it, the rest of the group following suit.

Mr Weasley and the Hufflepuff's father shared a few brief words before Harry was bundled into a tent by the balding red-head only just managing to wave at the older boy as he was dragged away. Instead of smiling and waving back as Cedric had gotten into the habit of, the bronze-haired boy merely nodded, stony faced, before turning his back on him, his pale skin and hair ablaze in the embers of the dying fires.

That was the last time Harry saw Cedric before they boarded the Hogwarts Express.

It wasn't, however, the last time he saw Amos Diggory.

On his way down to breakfast, on the day they were due to leave; Harry was almost steamrolled by Ron's dad. When Mrs Weasley called up the stairs saying there was an urgent message from the Ministry, the man had lurched down the stairs with his robes on back to front, knocking Ron into the banister in the process. Arthur mumbled something under his breath, dashing into the kitchen and the sound of objects being dropped to the floor reached the pair staring at the door.

Curious, Harry continued his descent and met Ron, who had been in front, by the kitchen door, watching Mr Weasley rush to the fireplace with a quill and parchment, scribbling furiously while he spoke to –

Harry shut his eyes hard and opened them again to make sure that they were working properly.

Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a large bearded egg. He was talking quickly, completely unperturbed by the flames and sparks around him. His eyes flickered to Ron and himself in the doorway and dropped his voice slightly.

"- it's a real stroke of luck I even heard about it…I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, Cedric wasn't too happy either, I'd promised I'd tell him what was going on at Hogwarts this year, just to get him to be quiet, and then this happened. I got in just as the Improper Use of Magic lot were setting out – if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur –"

Mrs Weasley was suddenly behind them, clearing her throat to gain their attention.

"When you two are quite done eavesdropping," she said softly, raising one eyebrow and pointed to the table, "Why don't you go sit down and get something to eat."

Harry felt his cheeks heat and mumbling an apology, he and Ron settled themselves at the table, the latter diving immediately for the bacon. Fred and George smiled warmly, nodding a good morning to him as they simultaneously buttered their toast. One of them, it was too early to figure out who, was leaning back in his chair, his head tilted towards the conversation behind him.

"All right, I'm off," Mr Weasley said, and stuffed the parchment with his notes of into his pockets before he dashed out of the kitchen again. Mrs Weasley and Mr Diggory's head shared a short expression before the man sighed.

"Sorry about this, Molly," he said a little calmer, "Bothering you so early and everything…But Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night…"

"Never mind, Amos," said Mrs Weasley with a bright smile, "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or something before you go?"

"Oh, go on, then," Amos Diggory said with a small smile and Harry watched with mild amusement as Mrs Weasley took a piece of buttered toast, put it into the fire tongs and transferred it to Mr Diggory's mouth.

"Fanks," he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a small pop, the head vanished.

Harry could hear Mr Weasley calling hurried goodbyes to the family and within five minutes he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the right way and combing his hair back. He wished Harry and Ron a good term, said goodbye to his wife, and pulled on a travelling cloak. One minute Mr Weasley was fumbling with a pocket watch, and the next he had vanished.

Bill and Charlie entered the room and each of the older boys took a slice of toast.

"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now?"

"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs Weasley, who, despite all of his protests, was piling a second helping of scrambled eggs onto Harry's plate.

"Mad-Eye Moody," George said thoughtfully, spreading marmalade onto his second slice of toast.

"Yeah…I see where you're going," Fred said, "Isn't he that nutter -"

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," Mrs Weasley said sternly, eyeing the twins with distrust before she strode from the room to find out where Ginny and Hermione had got to.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" Fred remarked quietly as she left the room. "Bird of a feather I guess…"

It was then Harry found out about the life and occupation of Mad-Eye Moody, about how he had once been a great Dark Wizard catcher…What had Charlie called it? An Auror? Fred and George, realising that the topic was becoming far too sombre grinned at something Percy said about Barty Crouch.

"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" said George seriously, "I reckon he'll know your name soon."

Percy's ears reddened to a bright crimson and he stalked from the room without so much as a backwards glance, leaving the boys to cackle around the breakfast table.

Mrs Weasley even braved the telephone at the Post Office to order three Muggle taxis to take them to London. Despite the drivers distaste for the over-excited Hedwig and Pigwidgeon and Fred's trunk bursting into fireworks the rest of the drive to King's Cross went without a hitch, leaving the raven-haired boy to stare out of the window and contemplate what he had heard, his thoughts shifting from the strange Mad-Eye Moody to the grinning Hufflepuff. Despite their strained parting after the Dark Mark had been at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry couldn't help but wonder when he'd next get to talk to Cedric.

* * *

Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom joined their carriage over the course of the afternoon and Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking 'Troy! Mullet! Moran!', but in a feeble and exhausted sort of way. After about half an hour or so, Hermione had gotten bored of their endless Quidditch talk and buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn the summoning charm.

Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.

"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."

"It was," said Ron, and Hermione shot him a look that was meant to reprimand him for his lack of empathy and tact. The boy took it as something completely different, something along the lines of showing Neville something to make him feel better. "Look at this, Neville…"

He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack, and pulled out the miniature figure of Victor Krum.

"Oh, wow!" Neville said enviously, as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.

"We saw him right up close, as well, "Ron bragged. "We were in the Top Box –"

"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."

Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.

"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.

"Weasley…what is _that_?" said Malfoy, pointing at Ron's dress robes from where the red-head had thrown it over Pigwidgeon's cage to stop the bird's hooting. One of the sleeves was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the mouldy lace cuff very obvious.

Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Draco was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.

"Look at this!" said Malfoy gleefully, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle. "Weasley, you weren't thinking of _wearing_ these were you? I mean – they were fashionable in about 1890…"

"Eat Dung Malfoy!" Ron hissed the same colour as the offending robes as he snatched them back out of Draco's grip. Malfoy burst into hysterical laughter while Crabbe and Goyle guffawed at his side.

"So…Going to enter Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved too, you know…I suppose _you_ will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"

"Either explain what on earth you are going on about or go away, Malfoy," Hermione said testily from behind her book.

An ecstatic smile spread across Malfoy's face.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly, "I mean, _my_ father told me about it ages again…heard it straight from the Minister. Then again, your father is probably too _junior_ to know about it…Yes…They probably don't talk about really **important** things in front of him…"

Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned Crabbe and Goyle to move on, and the three of them disappeared.

Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.

"RON!" said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered '_Reparo!' _and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.

"Well…Making it look like he knows everything and we don't," Ron snarled. "Dad could've got a promotion any time…he just likes it where he is…"

"Of course he does," said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron -"

"Him! Get to me! As if!" Ron snorted, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.

After ten minutes the red-head was still steaming and Harry decided it was probably best to leave their compartment and let Ron calm down before he returned. He was never fond of the boy's bad tempers, but he'd long gotten over them, they were simply what made Ron, Ron. With the pretence of finding the sweet trolley, shrugging when Hermione pointed out the remaining treats scattered over the seats, Harry slipped from the box.

He had no idea where he was going, or even why, but he had an undeniable wish to escape his friends, if only for a little while.

After a five or ten minute walk down the train, Harry finally caught up with the trolley and bought a few chocolate frogs, hoping to lighten Ron's mood with blackmail. Something along the lines of 'I come bearing gifts.' Nodding his thanks, he turned to walk back, freezing when he saw a flash of bronze and a sparkle of grey. Cedric.

The boy was walking towards him with a tall, beautiful girl with long black hair, perhaps a year older than he was, and he had no idea how to talk to him. He had no idea whether or not to say hi, or smile, or just ignore him.

This was so different from the day when they'd spent that afternoon on the hill. There had been no awkwardness. Summer felt like a year ago. They had just been Harry and Cedric, but now it was almost like someone had slid a frosted glass between them. He could still make the major features out, it was still the boy's form, but the subtle details were misted…They were distorted somehow.

Harry didn't have a place with the Hufflepuff, at least, not in school.

He couldn't extinguish that bubble of hope, though, as the pair drew nearer and he almost raised his hand to say hi when stormy grey met emerald. The look in those eyes stopped him from making any gesture. They stopped him in his tracks. They were indifferent to his appearance. There was no smile in them. And there was something deeper. Was there…Hostility there? Resentment?

Cedric turned to say something to the girl, muttering something in her ear and she laughed slightly, noticing Harry who was standing and staring like a rabbit in the headlights.

"Hi, Harry!" She beamed at the stunned Gryffindor, Harry dimly recognised her as Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker.

"Hi, Cho. Hi Cedric," he replied, but he didn't get a response from the other boy, and they brushed past him, Cho hitting him on the arm with a scowl. Cedric shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even look back.

Of course he didn't look back. Why should he look back? Why should he say hello and wave? Why should even look at him? He had no reason to talk to Harry any more. He didn't need to apologise, or feel the need to make sure he was alright just because he was older. He didn't feel the need to protect him for that same reason, or even worse, for the simple fact that he was Harry Potter.

He felt sick, cheated, and wished nothing more than to stumble back to his seat, curl up and hide. But he wouldn't be able to hide. Hermione would see something was wrong, hell, he felt so wounded, pathetic and played, that Ron would probably see. Silly, tactless Ron. He wanted so desperately to talk to the boy, ask his advice, but what if the red-head despised him for his sexual orientation…What if Ron didn't want to be his friend any more? No, he wouldn't tell him.

He had been an idiot to think that he could have had one small thing going right in his life, to think he might have had a friend who he could let in. He'd told the boy so much about himself…Some things he didn't even want to admit. He was stupid to think that anything good could ever happen to him. He didn't deserve it. He caused people pain even when he tried to help them. People were always going to get hurt around him.

It seemed that Fate hated him, his life had been mapped out and it was nothing but a repetition of pain and problems. Was it his duty to right the wrongs that other people had? Why was it him who was despised by the most powerful Dark Lord ever? Why him? Why?

He must have done something really bad in his past life to deserve this…


	6. Chapter Five

**Author's Note:**Alright my lovelies, here it is, Chapter Five. Yep, no reason for Cedric's behaviour just yet, but it is definately coming! I would just like to thank you (again) so much for the positive comments and support you're giving this fiction. I logged on and opened my e-mail box the other day and found twenty e-mails informing me about reviews, Author Alerts, Favourite Authors and Story Alerts! I had to pick my jaw off of the ground and made my bad day into a very good day by making me smile! I hope you enjoy this one!

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**Choosing The Champions**

It had almost been a month since Harry had last seen Cedric, or rather, tried to talk to him. After the older boy had blatantly ignored him on the Hogwart's Express he hadn't been keen to repeat the experience and so, he gave the Hufflepuff Prefect a wide berth. Despite himself, he couldn't help but look up every breakfast from the Gryffindor table to glance over to the Hufflepuff one, not looking away until he'd seen Cedric. He was angry with himself every time he did it, and vowed it would be the last time…Of course it never was. He was angry that the damn infatuation hadn't gone away yet. How long were crushes meant to last anyway, for Merlin's sake?! And even though he knew it was only his imagination, he could swear that sometimes after he'd turned away he felt the heat of those grey eyes on his back, almost willing him to look round.

After a Skrewt filled Care of Magical Creatures class, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked back to the castle, their spirits high from the way Hagrid had put Malfoy down. The sight had been particularly satisfying, especially since the boy had tried to get Hagrid sacked last year.

When they arrived at the Entrance Hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of student's milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, being the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign out aloud to the other two.

_TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_

_The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday 30__th__ October. Lessons will end half an hour early –_

"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

_Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast._

"Only a week away!" Ernie MacMillan exclaimed as he walked from the crowd. Harry recognised him as a Hufflepuff. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go tell him…"

Harry felt his stomach drop at the boy's name. Silently cursing the reaction, he watched Ernie hurry towards the Great Hall, wondering, before he could stop himself, if the bronze-haired boy was sitting in there…Why did he care?! He didn't.

"Cedric?" Ron asked blankly, following the Hufflepuff with his eyes.

"Diggory," Harry said, a little quicker than he had meant to. Thankfully, Ron didn't seem to notice, but Hermione locked her eyes on him, quirking an eyebrow. He shrugged. "He must be entering the Tournament."

"That air-headed pretty-boy, Hogwarts Champion?" Ron snickered as they pushed their way through the crowd towards the staircase. "Don't make me laugh!"

Harry felt anger boil in the pit of his stomach at his friend's words, he was about to snap something, but luck was with him when Hermione beat him to it.

"He's not an idiot, you just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Qudditch," Hermione hissed. "I've heard he's a really good student – _and_ he's a Prefect."

She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's _handsome_," said Ron scathingly.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly, and Harry rolled his eyes, this was going to be the conversation for the next half an hour if he wasn't careful.

"Well I think he'd be a good Champion, alright?" Harry stated flatly as he rounded on them, pulling his two friends out of their bickering. Ron grumbled something about him only making a comment but Hermione was eying him suspiciously again, something he did not need right now, especially when he was still wound up about Ron's remark. Cedric had been nothing but polite and friendly to him at the World Cup, and he'd pushed him out of the way of a Stunning spell when he could have just dodged them for himself. Harry knew from experience that being Stunned was not a fun occurrence. Or perhaps the red-head wasn't as unobservant as Harry thought, maybe the boy had noticed Cedric's and Harry's behaviour to each other since then…What if he knew?

"Come on, let's go to the Common Room," he sighed, hopping up the first few steps and leaving the pair to stare after him.

The appearance of the sign in the Entrance Hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to be the Hogwarts Champion? What would the Tournament involve? What were the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang like?

Harry also noticed that the castle seemed to be going through some severe cleaning regime. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed and the suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking. Argus Filch was behaving so furiously protective over his clean floor that when a group of first-year girls forgot to wipe their shoes he terrified them into hysterics.

Other members of staff seemed oddly tense too.

"Longbottom, kindly do _not_reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult class that resulted with Neville transplanting his own ear onto a cactus.

When they went down to breakfast of the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each representing a Hogwarts house – red with a lion of Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table hung the largest banner of them all, it bore the Hogwart's coat of arms, each animal united around a large letter 'H'.

Harry, Ron and Hermione spotted Fred and George at the Gryffindor table, or rather Ron and Hermione spotted the twins as Harry was too busy getting his morning glimpse of the handsome boy across the hall. Only this morning was different in two ways, one Cedric actually turned and caught his eye with an almost non-existent smile on his face before turning his back on him, a smile that Harry convinced himself he had imagined, and the second was the Weasley twins were sitting apart from everyone else. The pair had their heads together and were conversing in hushed tones. Ron led the way over to them.

"It's a bummer all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand, he can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you?" Ron asked as he sat down next to them.

"Wish you would," Fred mumbled, looking irritated at the interruption. "Morning, Harry, Hermione."

"What's a bummer?" Ron persisted, turning instead to George.

"Have a nosey git like you for a brother."

Deciding he'd better rescue the conversation before Ron and his brothers had a major falling out, Harry stepped in.

"You two go any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter."

This apparently was the right thing to ask as it diverted the twin's attention from Ron, but instead had Hermione scowling at her toast, her jaw locked as she tried not to speak. She didn't approve of Fred, George and Ron trying to hoodwink whatever the procedure was and enter. Oh well. You can't please everyone.

"I asked McGonagall how the Champions were going to be chosen, but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly, casting a dark look at the woman on the teacher's table who was talking to Professor Dumbledore. "She just told me to shut up and get on with Transfiguring my raccoon."

"Wonder what the tasks are gonna be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them Harry, we've done dangerous stuff before…"

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the Champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," Hermione said, apparently she couldn't help but show her knowledge on the subject, and everyone looked round at her in surprise, "because all three of them were injured in 1792 when a cockatrice the Champions were meant to be catching went on the rampage."

When she realised everyone was looking at her, she sighed, and with her usual air of impatience she continued, "It's all in Hogwarts: A History. Though, of course, that is not _entirely_ reliable. "A Revised History of Hogwarts" would be a more accurate title. Or "A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School"."

"What are you going on about?" said Ron, frowning slightly as he stared at her, Harry on the other hand thought he knew what was coming.

"House-elves!" Hermione cried, proving Harry right. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts: A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Harry shook his head with a roll of his eyes, and applied himself to his scrambled eggs. His and Ron's lack of enthusiasm had done nothing what-so-ever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves. With that he switched off to the next part of the conversation, smiling slightly when Fred and George entered it. It was then he felt hot eyes on his back and instead of ignoring it like he usually did, Harry turned to glare at whoever it was.

His stomach lurched with pleasant surprise when his eyes met Cedric Diggory's, the stormy grey widening slightly as well. Apparently the boy had not expected him to look round and catch him in the act. But why was he looking at him?

For a moment neither could look away, and they continued to stare at each other. Hermione had stopped complaining and was now looking at him, once again suspicion in her gaze. One of Cedric's friends seemed to say something and the boy turned away.

Harry followed suit and keeping his eyes from Hermione's burning ones, he nudged his food with his fork. He felt…Giddy, lightheaded and…Happy. That wasn't normal, usually he felt awful after being caught staring at the older boy, but it seemed that Cedric had been caught off guard as well…Cedric had **smiled** at him, and the look on his face had been imploring. Maybe he hadn't done anything wrong after all.

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The day after the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had joined the school's population was a Saturday, that usually meant a late breakfast, but Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't alone in rising a lot earlier than they usually did. When they went down to the Entrance Hall, they saw about twenty people all milling around, some eating toast and all of them examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that usually bore the Sorting Hat. A thin, golden circle had been drawn round the object, leaving ten feet in every direction.

"Anyone put their names in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied with a shrug, "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

"Bet some of them put them in last night after we'd all gone to bed," Harry snorted. "I would've done if it were me…I wouldn't have wanted anyone watching… just in case the damn thing gobbed my name back out again."

Someone laughed behind them, and turning, they saw Fred, George and Lee Jordan sauntering down the staircase, all three of them looking very excited and exceptionally smug.

"Done it," Fred whispered triumphantly to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Just taken it."

"What?" Ron asked, frowning and turning to the other two, who shrugged.

"The Ageing Potion, dungbrains!" Fred hissed teasingly, watching his brothers ears turn red.

"One drop each," George continued, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "We only needed to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," Hermione warned, looking at the Age Line. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

Fred, George and Lee ignored her.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon the – I'll go first –"

Harry watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket, bearing the words 'Fred Weasley – Hogwarts'. Fred walked right up to the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the Entrance Hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

For a split second, Harry thought it had worked – George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred – but the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both the twins were hurled out of the golden circle. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor to the sound of loud laughter, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them spouted identical, long white beards.

The laughter in the Entrance Hall got louder and in some cases hysterical. Even Fred and George joined in once they'd picked themselves up from the floor and taken a look at each other's beards.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to see Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards were as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the Hospital wing, accompanied by, Lee who was howling with laughter, and Harry, Ron and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast.

The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, squeaking loudly, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, after scanning the heads of the Hufflepuff table, as he had expected, Cedric wasn't there. The two boys were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.

"There's a rumour going around that Warrington got up early and put his name into the Goblet," Dean told Harry with a sour face. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."

Harry, who had played against Warrington during Quidditch matches, shook his head in disgust. "We can't have a Slytherin Champion!"

"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about is Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously.

"Yeah…But I wouldn't have thought he'd want to risk his good looks." Ron continued with a grin.

"Well it's a real shame that you're not seventeen then, isn't it Ron, you'd have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Harry snapped, his blood boiling, what was it with Ron! Why did he seem to have this vendetta against the older boy, he hadn't done anything wrong! However, he instantly regretted his outburst when his friend's ears went red.

"And what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly, drawing their attention to the commotion going on in the Entrance Hall. There were loud cheers and standing up in their seats they saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Great Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. Seeing them she walked to their table and sat down.

"Well, I've done it! I've put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" Ron said, looking impressed. He seemed to have forgotten their slight tiff.

"Are you seventeen, then?" Harry asked.

"'Course she is, idiot. Can't see a beard can you?" Ron said. Ok, so he hadn't forgotten.

"I had my birthday last week."

"Well I'm glad someone from Gryffindor has finally entered," Hermione said with a big smile, "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"

"Yeah, better you that Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him and Harry's blood to once again boil.

"Anyone would think you're jealous of him, Seamus," he said coolly, eliciting another frown of curiosity to appear on Hermione's face.

"I'm not jealous of _him_!" Seamus said indignantly, folding his arms.

"Then why don't you stop making immature comments, you're acting like an eight year old with his first crush!"

That remark ended the conversation for the rest of breakfast.

After a strained visit to Hagrid's, strained because Hermione had insisted on taking her S.P.E.W badges with them, and being left behind when he'd apparently forgotten about them in favour of Madam Maxime, Harry, Ron and Hermione let themselves out of his cabin and shut the door. It was surprisingly dark. Drawing their cloaks more closely around their bodies, they set off up the sloping lawns.

"Ooh, it's them, look!" Hermione whispered.

The Durmstrang party were walking up towards the castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang students were straggling along behind them. Ron watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look around as they reached the front doors a little ahead of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

When they entered the candle-lit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved and was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George – clean-shaven again – seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.

"Hope it's Angelina," Fred said, as Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down.

"Me too…" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we won't have long to find out."

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps it was because it was the second feast in two days and Harry didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he normally would have done. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly cranking necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, the standing up to simply see if Dumbledore hand finished eating yet, Harry just wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as Champion for Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

At long last the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sudden surge of noise that died down almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. One either side of him, Madam Maxime and Professor Karkaroff looked as tense as everyone else. Ludo Bagman was grinning and winking at various students while Barty Crouch looked quite uninterested and almost bored.

"Well, the Goblet of Fire is almost ready to make its decision. I estimate that it will only need another minute. Now, when the Champions' names are called, I would ask them to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go into the next chamber –" Dumbledore indicated the door behind the table, "-where they will be receiving their instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once all the candles except those inside the pumpkins were extinguished, leaving the hall in a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone brighter than anything else in the Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched. Everyone waited. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths. A few people kept looking at their watches…

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered two seats away from Harry.

The flames inside the Goblet suddenly turned a bright, firey red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered from the depths. The whole room gasped, leaning forwards in their seats.

Dumbledore caught the paper and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue white.

"The Champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore read in a clear, strong voice, "will be Viktor Krum!"

"No surprises there!" shouted Ron, as a storm of applause and cheering swept over the Hall. Harry saw Viktor rise from his seat at the Slytherin table, nodding to his stomping class mates and slouch up towards Dumbledore. He turned right and quickly disappeared through the door.

"Bravo, Viktor!" Karkaroff boomed, so loudly he could be heard over the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting died down as the Goblet burned red once again. Everyone's attention was on it as a second piece of parchment shot out of it.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore said, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted, as the girl who seemed so much like a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding towards the remaining Beauxbatons. That comment was a bit of an understatement, because those who weren't sending death glares towards their class mate were sobbing into their arms.

When Fleur had vanished through the door silence fell again. Only this time, the silence was stiff. It grew and breathed and swept everyone up with the static charge of excitement that was cackling through the Hall. This time is was the Hogwarts Champion…

The Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered from it and the tongue of flame shot high into the air. Dumbledore plucked the third piece of parchment from the air.

"The Hogwarts Champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"No!" said Ron loudly, but only Harry heard him, and he was too exuberant to get angry. He had to refrain from jumping to his feet like the Hufflepuffs and so settled for clapping until his hands were raw and stamping his feet. Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly and turned to the Gryffindor table. Grey eyes caught emerald and Harry nodded, grinning, his hands stopping to give the boy a thumbs-up. If possible, Cedric's smile got wider as he headed off towards the chamber behind the teachers' table.

The applause went on for such a long time it was a while before Dumbledore could make himself heard.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily, as the last of the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three Champions. I am sure I can count on all of you, including the remaining Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, to give your Champion every ounce of support you can muster" – He looked towards the, still sulking, Beauxbaton girls – "By cheering your Champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was very apparent as to what had distracted him.

The fire in the Goblet was burning red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air and with it came another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands and everyone in the room locked their eyes on him. And then the man cleared his throat and read out –

"Harry Potter."

Only one thought went through his mind.

Oh crap.


	7. Chapter Six

**Author's Note:**Ok, so its not as long as the others, but I guess it's still not too short. I really struggled getting this one out, I found it so damn boring! But hopefully it won't be too boring for you all to read and review. =3 Still no answers I'm afraid, but the end of the 'What the hell is up with Pretty-Boy?' is in my sight. Let us all smile and give thanks. Please don't hate me too much. And in the immortal words of Cid: "Don't spear me!" Right, I'm going to stop typing before I **really** embarrass myself... I hope you like this chapter despite my grumblings! Enjoy! =3

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**The Four Champions**

Harry sat there for what seemed like hours instead of seconds. His mind was in turmoil. Laughably, he was reminded of the dream he'd had two days previously. The dream where his name had been pulled out of the Goblet of Fire, everyone was looking at him in admiration and Cedric was beaming at him. The boy had muttered something into his ear and pulled him into those strong arms and pressed his lips…

Wrong time, wrong place!

Mentally scowling himself, Harry blinked and looked round, becoming painfully aware that almost every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. Unlike his dream though, there was no Cedric and everyone was glaring at him as though he had just destroyed the Quidditch pitch. He was stunned. He felt numb. This was definitely another dream, or nightmare. He hadn't heard right, Cedric was the Hogwarts Champion; not him!

Cedric…Oh Merlin! He was going to hate him! He'd taken his glory and he had no idea how. Apparently the Hufflepuffs agreed with his assessment, as their glares were the most venomous of everyone in the Hall, they seemed to think that Harry had somehow cheated them out of their victory as well. The numbness was slowly draining away and panic was starting to seed in his abdomen.

There was still no applause. Instead, a buzzing, like angry bees, had broken out; some of the students were standing up to look at him while he remained frozen in his seat.

Harry managed to turn his head a few inches to his right and stared at Ron and Hermione. The entire Gryffindor table beyond them was watching with open mouths.

"I didn't put my name in…" Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

Neither of them moved. They were both sat there, staring at him just as blankly.

At the top of the table, Professor Dumbledore was nodding to Professor McGonagall. Dimly, Harry wondered when she had got up to talk to him.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here if you please!"

Mentally Harry scoffed.

No way. There was no way he was going to get up and walk down that isle. The way the Hufflepuffs were eyeing him up? No way! If looks would kill he'd already be dead, why pour petrol on the flame and give people a good look at the criminal? No, no, NO! He was not going to go up there. Dementors, Skrewts and Flying Monkeys could not make him get out of this seat!

But apparently Hermione could…

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving him a slight push.

Harry got to his feet and set off between the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, trying desperately to ignore the insults he could hear on his right. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top of the table didn't seem to be getting any nearer. In fact…It was like one of those nightmares where the door was getting further away, even when you broke into a run. Of course, he did no such thing, the hundreds and hundreds of eyes on his back and face kept him in check.

The buzzing grew louder. One Hufflepuff couldn't help himself.

"He's a cheat!"

"'E izen't even seventeen yet!" A Beauxbaton girl added scornfully.

"Eet iz not fair!"

After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of every teacher upon him.

"Well…Through the door, Harry?" said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

He wanted to say 'no thanks' and flee the Hall. He wanted to run and hide, but of course he didn't. People wouldn't expect him to. People expected him to face everything head on. But this was like nothing he'd ever felt before. The fear of having to go into that room and tell Cedric that he was a Champion as well was far too potent. Give him a Voldemort parasite living on his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Give him a gigantic snake that wanted to kill him. Give him a Werewolf. Give him a hundred Dementors for Merlin's sake. Give him anything but facing that boy.

He moved like a statue.

Harry stiffly walked along the teachers' table, Hagrid was the last person he passed, and the man didn't wink, or smile or wave. He sat there, staring at him with astonishment and…fear? Harry walked through the door out of the Great Hall, and found himself in a small, circular room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A glorious fire had been lit in the ornate fireplace opposite him.

Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric were grouped around the fire. They all looked strangely impressive standing there, silhouetted by the flames. Krum was hunched up and brooding slightly apart from the other two, his eyebrows pulled together in a pensive frown. Fleur was leaning again a cabinet, staring at nothing in particular. Cedric was standing directly in front of the fire, his hands clasped behind his back, facing away from him.

The way the orange hue flickered across his skin momentarily stunned Harry. He looked breathtakingly beautiful, far more than Fleur did. The fire turned his hair a glistening and blazing bronze.

Fleur looked at him as he walked further into the room and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she asked. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

She thought he'd come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to respond, and looked down, hearing her sigh impatiently. She probably thought he was too embarrassed and in awe of her beauty that he didn't want to speak. In fact, it was Cedric that caused that reaction, and also caused his unwillingness to say. Looking up, Harry was suddenly struck by how tall they all were, and how much older they were compared to him.

There was the sound of scurrying footsteps behind him and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him the rest of the way into the room. Krum looked up accusingly while Fleur gazed indignantly between Harry and the man, Cedric didn't look round.

"Extraordinary!" Bagman exclaimed, beaming like an excited child. "Gentlemen…Lady. May I introduce – incredible as it may seem – the_ fourth_Triwizard Champion!"

Viktor Krum drew himself to his full height and towered over Harry, his surly face darkening as he surveyed him. Cedric looked round, his eyes widening slightly when he saw Harry and looked bewildered to Bagman as though he had misheard what the man had said. Fleur, on the other hand, merely tossed her hair and smiled.

"Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Ludo Bagman repeated with a small confused frown. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire."

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly and it was Cedric's face that darkened this time. His stormy eyes swirled with emotion and he locked them on Harry's face. The raven-haired boy frowned and shook his head slightly, trying to tell the older boy that he hadn't put the parchment in without actually speaking.

Fleur frowned. "But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young!"

"Well…It is amazing. But as you are all aware, the age restriction was only imposed as an extra safety measure. As his name has come out of the Goblet…Well I don't think there is any ducking out at this stage…It's in the rules Harry, you are obliged…He'll have to do the best he –"

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of bickering people entered: Professor Dumbledore closely followed by Mr Crouch, Professore Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGongall and Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of hundreds of students on the other side of the wall before it slammed shut behind them.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur, striding to her Headmistress and reminding Harry of a five year old about to tattle on someone. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Somewhere beneath Harry's numb disbelief, he felt anger. _Little boy_?! He had gone up against things that perfect Fairy Princess had never even thought about!

Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, formidable height. The top of her head brushed the candle filled chandelier, and her gigantic black satin bosom swelled.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

Harry held back a snort of laughter. Dumbly-dorr?

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," Karkaroff muttered. He was wearing a steely smile and his eyes were like chips of ice. "_Two_ Hogwarts Champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two Champions – or have I simply not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short, bark of a laugh.

"C'est impossible!" Madam Maxime huffed, resting her hand on Fleur's shoulder. "'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two Champions! It is unjust!"

"We were under the impression your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," Karkaroff sneered, his steely smile colder than ever.

"It's no one's fault but Potter's," Snape intervened, his black eyes alive with malice.

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly and turned to Harry who had been in the same position since Bagman had dragged him forwards. He was still staring at Cedric, but the boy had long turned away to stare into the fire.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?"

"No," said Harry, turning to face his headmaster with a small frown of annoyance towards the man who had just gained his attention. He was entirely aware of the eyes on his face and Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet for you?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring the man cast in shadows behind him.

"No," said Harry firmly.

"Ah! But of course 'e is lying!" cried Madam Maxime. Snape was shaking his head, his lip curled.

"He could not have crossed the Age Line!" said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that – "

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiv ze line," the gigantic woman said with a shrug.

"It is possible of course," said Dumbledore politely.

"Dumbledore! You know perfectly well that you did not make a mistake with that line!" Professor McGonagall snapped angrily, glaring at Snape.

Harry found himself staring at Cedric once again, the boy gave off the air of not paying much attention, but the tenseness in his shoulders made it perfectly clear that he was hanging on every word spoken. He grappled with the urge to reach out and touch the older student's arm before looking round at the now complaining Karkaroff.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," the man hissed. He had dropped the unctuous tone and his smile now. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two Champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore. After all of our meetings and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. It's a magically binding contract, like Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman have been saying. Highly convenient, eh?"

"I don't know what you mean, Moody," the Durmstrang headmaster said, folding his arms defiantly.

Harry could tell that the man was trying to sound disdainful, as though the other mangled ex-Auror wasn't worth his time. However, his hands were giving him away. They were balled into fists at his side.

"Don't you? If anyone has the right to complain, it's Potter," Moody hissed, "But…funny thing…I don't hear _him_ saying a word."

"Why should 'e complain?" Fleur burst out with a childish stamp of her foot, tugging her shoulder from Madam Maxime's large hands as she pouted at Moody, her pretty face sour. "'E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honour for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money – zis is a chance many would die for!"

Harry felt Cedric tense beside him, those eyes suddenly infuriated and flickered from Fleur to his, the look of angry impatience took Harry by surprise and as quickly as they looked at him, the grey eyes turned back to the dancing flames. His lips were moving soundlessly, barely moving, but Harry could just about make out what they seemed to be mouthing.

"He doesn't care about that."

His heart lurched happily, it looked as if Cedric was on his side, but Moody sunk his fleeting pleasure.

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter _is_going to die for it," the ex-Auror said softly and the room fell silent. Cedric was looking at Harry again, this time concern in his gaze, and perhaps the younger Gryffindor was imagining it, but it looked like the boy had taken half a step towards him.

Ludo Bagman, who looked very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet, laughing uncomfortably. "Moody old man…What a thing to say!"

"Imagining things am I?" Moody growled. "Seeing things eh? It was a very skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that Goblet…"

"Ah!" Madame Maxime exclaimed with a dramatic roll of her eyes, her hands once again on Fleur's shoulders with a grasp that looked comforting, but restraining. "What evidence is zere of zat?"

"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object! It would have to have been an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that Goblet into forgetting there are only three schools competing, magic that I doubt Potter has even studied…I'm guessing they submitted his name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in the category…"

"You seem to have given this a lot of thought, Moody," Karkaroff said coldly, moving to stand behind Krum, waving his hand dismissively at the ex-Auror.

"It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff. Perhaps you remember…"

"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. It took a moment to realise that he was talking to Moody, but then he remembered that 'Mad-Eye' couldn't be his new Professor's first name. The ex-Auror fell silent but continued to glare at Karkaroff; the Bulgarian's face was burning.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to the entirety of the rooms occupants. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…"

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr – "

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."

Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious. Karkaroff looked livid. Bagman however was bouncing around excitedly and started jabbing away quickly about the first task.

Harry was only half listening. He had suddenly become painfully aware of how every tired he was, and now all of the Champions were being addressed, Cedric had come up to his side. He was finding it increasingly more difficult to focus on what Barty Crouch was telling him instead of the warm body beside him. Cedric's brow was still furrowed but it didn't seem to be from anything that he was hearing.

Another conversation began between the adults and Harry looked down at the floor, trying to ignore Cedric's heat, which surprisingly hadn't moved. He jumped slightly when a knuckle brushed the back of his hand and Fleur and Krum looked at him with a mixture of confusion and bitterness. He shrugged at them and looked back at the floor, his face and ears burning slightly as he heard Cedric chuckling softly beside him.

Of course the touch had been accidental, and he'd just over reacted. Cedric probably thought he was as barmy as Mad-Eye. Fearing assassination.

When Harry next looked up he saw Madame Maxime was leading Fleur out of the room with one large arm wrapped round the smaller girl's shoulders. He could hear them speaking very fast in French as they disappeared into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum and the pair exited after the second Champion and her headmistress, unlike the others in silence.

"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are awaiting your return to celebrate, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together.

The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burnt low giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality. The older boy stormed off ahead of Harry and was already half way across the gigantic room before the raven-haired boy even had the chance to blink. A sudden rush of determination washed over him. He was going to find out what the hell was going on with Cedric Diggory. One moment he was angry at him, the next he was smiling at him, **touching** him, and now he was angry again!

"Cedric?!" he called, the name echoing off the walls, as he jogged after the Hufflepuff.

The boy turned and looked at him, looking confused.

"I didn't put my name in! I didn't try to take your place as the Hogwarts Champion. I don't want any of it, and I'm really sorry!"

Cedric's eyebrows drew together and he frowned at the younger boy in front of him. His mouth was working like it wanted to say something but he couldn't get it out. "Sorry?"

"Yeah. I dunno what I did, but when you didn't say hi on the train…I didn't know what I had done. But I do this time and I'm really, really sorry, for everything. I just don't want us to stop being friends, you know?" Harry breathed, trying to get his head round the expression Cedric was sporting.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry," the boy whispered, shaking his head with a small half-smile.

"But you…"

"I'm angry with _them_. For letting you compete in this thing. I know you've done stuff like this before, but Harry you've never done it on your own and…You could get hurt."

Harry blinked, staring gobsmacked at the Hufflepuff Prefect. He had not been expecting that. Back up. Cedric was worried that he was going to get hurt? So…That meant –

"You care?"

"Of course I care!" Cedric snapped suddenly, before frowning and shaking his head. There seemed to be some internal debate being fought in his head, and it was impossible to tell which side won.

"I have to go," he said quietly, then turned on his heel and fled the Hall, offering Harry a fleeting glance before he disappeared into the Entrance Hall.

For a few moments, Harry stood dazed and confused staring at the spot the older boy had disappeared from view. Cedric Diggory cared about what happened to him? A giddy smile worked its way onto the lower part of his face and he stumbled out of the Hall, oblivious to the curious eyes watching him and the soft clunk of an artificial leg hitting the stone floor in the shadows.


	8. Bonus Chapter

An Apologetic Chapter

**Author's Note:** In apology for not getting a chapter up before I went on tour with one of my choirs I have written a smaller chapter to tantalize your taste buds. It seems however that Karma has taken its toll on me for my little slip up and I had the flu over the course of the four day weekend trip. Once again, my apologies! You can also count this as a little thank you for all your support and my own little celebration for actually getting the most reviews I have ever had (it wouldn't be hard). I have no idea whether or not you will enjoy this, and I don't plan on it being too long but we will see. This is the dream Harry had the night his name was pulled out of the Goblet of Fire, which I will be finishing off fully in the next chapter. No angst (a major plus), and mild reference to sex…Kind of. Enjoy! =3

* * *

It was dark outside. It was dark but he could still see as far as the lake from his position on the steps leading to the Entrance Hall. There was a soft breeze that ruffled his already messy hair and it was warm and enticing on his skin. Closing his eyes, Harry took a deep breath in and released it, enjoying the scent of crushed pine, dew and grass. A new scent joined the others, mingling into a tantalizing aroma. It was like strawberry. Strawberry dipped in sugar.

His skin was suddenly prickling with electricity as a burning heat appeared on his face, and curious, he opened his eyes. Crouched in front of him, holding his face inches from Harry's, stormy grey eyes locked with emerald green, was Cedric Diggory. He looked as gorgeous as ever, his chiselled jaw line strong but in no way intimidating…In fact it looked strangely yielding and Harry had to fight the urge to trace the contours of his face with his fingers. There was one difference to the boy now to the other times he had seen him, his stormy eyes were determined, devoid of any conflicting emotions. His gaze was made up. The Hufflepuff Prefect smiled perfectly before sitting back on his heels, casting his gaze to the sky, which was oddly black, before looking back at him.

Where were the stars? Surely they couldn't have burned out? His thoughts were silenced suddenly as he felt soft fingertips brushing against his cheeks. Focusing, Harry watched Cedric tilt his head and smile a little wider before leaning in, mumbling something incoherent to Harry's dazed brain. The Gryffindor was drowning in his scent, the smell of strawberry that had come with the older boy now overwhelming every sense he possessed.

Dreamily, he realised that Cedric's lips were getting closer, but as those fingers roamed into his hair to gently entwine in the raven locks and pull their faces together, he couldn't bring himself to care. Electricity shot down his spine and it was all he could do to part his mouth welcomingly, his chest heaving in anticipation. The first touch of soft, rose coloured lips was tender and hesitant. Testing. Another spark of electricity shot down his spine as the older bronze-haired God crushed their face together, moving from his crouch to straddle Harry's lap.

There was a tongue; wet, firm and demanding running over his lower lip and Harry could do nothing but surrender himself to Cedric. He didn't want to fight. He raised his arms and wrapped them round the older boy's neck as he explored his mouth, coaxing his own tongue to retaliate. Cedric tugged his head back gently and the feeling of being dominated so completely, of not having to think, sent heat polling into his lower abdomen. He did as he was bidden and let his run over its counter-part, his hands fisting the shirt adorning his Adonis' torso.

He wanted it off.

Before the thought could even be comprehended, it was gone and his hands were flat on hot skin. Cedric was pushing him onto his back, the step suddenly gone, holding his chest from Harry's by leaning on his forearms. With a groan of protest, the possessive mouth left his, but he didn't have a chance to miss it before it claimed his neck, the hand in his hair gently tugging his head back further.

Somehow his shirt had also disappeared, and Cedric's free hand was tracing his stomach, caressing his skin with feather-like touches, running his fingertip feverously back and forth, alternating between the pads and his nails. A loud groan of pleasure escaped him as the Hufflepuff's teeth nipped his neck and he ground his hips against Harry's.

Cedric's hand was no long moving in gentle caresses, instead, the fingers had become more demanding and were tugging at the waistband of Harry's jeans. It was the raven-haired boy could do to remember how to breathe as he arched into the touch, his eyes rolling into the back of his head…

To say Harry was humiliated when he found himself staring at the fabric on his four-poster bed in his dormitory instead of Cedric Diggory's face was a little bit of an understatement. The fact that his sheets and lower abdomen were sticky made his cheeks glow bright red and he knew it was his saving grace that Ron snored so damn loudly. It was then he remember that he was still angry with Ron and blocked the red-head from his mind.

Stupid Cedric being so hot that he was dreaming about him. But the way he had kissed him…Merlin.

Mentally scowling himself, Harry wiped his stomach off on the already ruined sheets and shied away from the stickier part, silently wondering what Hermione would have said about house-elf rights if she ever found out. The thought helped lighten the mood for a second before his mind shifted back to the dream. He had a feeling that if Cedric kept avoiding the subject, and him, that this might happen more often. Stupid, perfect Prefect…Stupid, un-deniably hot Hufflpuff. Stupid Cedric. Stupid idiot for being able to kiss so well in his dream…He could only wonder what it would feel like in real life, would the boy be so…forceful?

Argh!

He was never going to get back to sleep at this rate!

So this was what it was like to be sexually frustrated, he'd heard the Weasley twins once talk about it. Now he knew. And he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Grumbling under his breath, he made sure the curtains were firmly closed and rolled onto his front, burying his head in his pillow and wishing for the first time in his life that he were a girl so he get somewhere near that God-like body.


	9. Chapter Seven

**Author's Note:** Oh finally it is finished! The first part was so easy to write, but the last part was a beast! Kind of like a certain someone, hmm, am I just making more strings and not resolving any? They all will be, I'm just not sure when, we will all find out together what the hell is going on with everyone. =3 Enjoy!

* * *

The Weighing Of The Wands

It took Harry an hour and a half before he managed to get into his dormitory that night. To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bed in the otherwise empty room, still fully dressed, the other members still in the Common Room celebrating his hollow victory. He looked up indifferently when the Gryffindor Champion slammed the door behind him.

"Where've you been?" Harry asked, striding to his own bed to sit on the edge.

"Oh, hello," the red-head said.

He was grinning, but it was a strained gesture that didn't reach his eyes. Harry suddenly realised he was still wearing the Gryffindor banner that Lee Jordan had wrapped round his shoulders. He quickly took it off but the boy had knotted it tightly round his throat. Ron didn't move and watched as Harry struggled to remove the fabric.

"So…Congratulations," Ron said finally, that grimacing smile still on his face.

"What do you mean congratulations?" Harry asked, frowning at the expression on his friend's face. Something was definitely wrong and the boy wasn't going to tell him what it was.

"Well…No one else got across the Age Line," the Weasley continued with another, incredibly fake, indifferent shrug. "Not even Fred and George. What did you use – the Invisibility Cloak?"

"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me across that line, Ron."

"Oh, right," Ron muttered and cast his eyes down as he sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. "I thought you might've told me if it was the Cloak…because it would've covered us both, wouldn't it? But you found another way did you?"

This was why his friend was acting like this? Because he thought that Harry had gone behind his back and put his name in without telling him? Harry stood for a moment, unable to speak until the grin Ron was wearing slipped.

"Listen," he said slowly, "I didn't put my name in the Goblet. Someone else must have done it."

Ron raised his eyebrows, and Harry could tell that the red-head didn't believe him. "What would they do that for?"

"I dunno," Harry said, after all, he really didn't want to run around the room screaming that people were trying to kill him. He didn't need to do that. Ron already knew that…Didn't he?

"It's ok, you know, you can tell_ me_ the truth," he said. "If you don't want anyone else to know, that's fine, but I don't know why you're bothering with all this lying. I mean, you didn't get into any trouble did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all. Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either…"

"I didn't my name in the Goblet, alright, Ron?!" Harry shouted, frowning angrily as he rose to his feet. To his surprise, the red-head did the same, towering over him, his hands balled into fists.

"Yeah, right," Ron said in the same sceptical tone that everyone else had been using all night. "Only you said this morning that you'd have done it last night, when no one was around to see you. I'm not stupid you know."

"Well you're doing a pretty good impression of it! Cedric believes me and he has less reason than you do to! He isn't my best friend!"

The red-head stiffened at that comment and Harry instantly regretted saying Cedric's name. Maybe Ron wasn't as clueless as he thought.

"Oh yeah? Well have you ever thought that maybe he has more reason to believe you than you thought?! Geeze, Harry, I never took you for a Wand-Biter like Pretty-Boy Diggory! Maybe you should be friends with him, you have more in common."

"What?"

Ron snorted and sat back down on his bed, "You heard me. Did you get _him_ to put your name in the Goblet? I bet he would if you asked him _nicely_ enough."

The sneer in his voice set Harry's hairs standing, and his mind was far too clouded for him to think of any kind of response. Cedric was…Gay? No way, he couldn't be. Ron was lying…Oh shit! Ron **knew**! He knew this would happen! Ron wouldn't want to be his friend anymore because he liked guys! What if he told other people? He'd only just realised himself, he didn't want anyone else knowing!

"You should get to bed, Harry. I expect you'll have to get up early tomorrow for a photocall or something."

The red-head wrenched the hangings of his bed shut, leaving Harry, dazed and confused, staring at the dark red velvet curtains, now hiding one of the few people he had been certain would believe him.

* * *

When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a while to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. It also took him a moment to realise why he was sticky, and the memories of the previous night rolled over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of his four-poster bed, checking that it would be ok to venture out from under the covers, intending to talk to Ron, to make him believe him, maybe even beat him senseless with a pillow which was oddly appealing right now. However, he was faced with Ron's empty bed; he had obviously gone down the breakfast without him. The stupid arse.

It was only now that he thought about what Ron had said that the sting came. It hurt. And somehow he knew that this pain was exactly what Ron had wanted him to feel.

Harry dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the Common Room. The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause again. The idea of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all treating him like some kind of hero; was not appealing. Then came the realisation that the other students would be glaring at him like the anti-Christ. However, it was either that or stay here and allow himself to be cornered by the Creevey brothers, who were both beckoning frantically for him to join them. He walked resolutely to the portrait hole, pushed it open, clambered through, and found himself face to face with Hermione.

"Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin, apparently the need to eat out-weighed her S.P.E.W campaigning. "I bought you this…Want to go for a walk?"

"Brilliant idea," Harry said gratefully, letting the portrait shut behind them.

They went downstairs, crossed the Entrance Hall quickly without looking in the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn to the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored. He couldn't help but wonder if the boys from the other school would obliviate Hermione if they found them and decided to drown him. The way he was feeling right now, he wouldn't care if they did.

It was a chilly morning, and they kept moving, munching their toast as Harry told Hermione exactly what had happened after he left the Gryffindor table the night before. When he got to what Ron had said in their dormitory, he kept going, Hermione had the right to know and he'd rather be the one to tell her than Ron. To his immense relief, she accepted his story without question, though she went strangely quiet after he admitted his guilty secret.

"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," she said gently before looking at him. "The look on your face when your name was called out was enough to prove that! But the question is, who _did_ put it in? Professor Moody's right, no student would have been about to fool the Goblet or get over -"

"Have you seen Ron this morning?" Harry interrupted, worried that Hermione was avoiding the subject he'd tried to start.

"Erm…Yes…He was at breakfast," she said hesitantly.

"Does he still think I entered my name?"

"Well…no, I don't think so…Not really," Hermione said awkwardly, "But Harry, it was absolutely awful for him to say something like that. We've both had our suspicions for a while…But for him to have said it like _that_! You being…g-gay has nothing to do with any of this."

"He seemed to think so," Harry muttered bitterly. "Anyway, what was that supposed to mean, not really?"

"Oh, Harry isn't it so obvious?!" Hermione said despairingly, "He's jealous!"

"_Jealous?!_" Harry said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school does he?"

"Look," said Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously, "I know you don't ask for it…but – well – you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete with at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous – he's always shunted to the side whenever anyone sees you, and her puts up with it. He never mentions it, but I guess it's just been one time too many that's all…"

"Great," Harry said bitterly, "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to the lot of it…people gawping at my forehead wherever I go…"

"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione stated shortly, folding her arms. "Tell him yourself, it's the only way to sort this. Besides, I think that maybe he bought up the whole…Cedric thing because he's jealous that you can admit that to yourself. You know he's not exactly…Blooming with self-esteem. Not with that many brothers, seriously Harry…"

"That's his problem, not mine! I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said, so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself when I've broken my neck or lost a leg –"

"That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all." She looked extremely anxious and he couldn't help but feel a little bad. "Harry, I've been thinking – you know what we have to do the moment we get back up to the castle?"

"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the –"

"_Write_ to Sirius."

And so started the long and annoying rant that took up most of his day.

* * *

The next few days were some of Harry's worst at Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months in his second year, when the majority of the school thought he was attacking his fellow students. But Ron had been on his side then, now the boy was avoiding him as viciously as Cedric Diggory was, the boy had gone back to ignoring him after their brief talk the night his name was pulled out of the Goblet of Fire. The two boys were causing more grief for him in five days than the Dursley's had in eleven years. He thought that maybe he could cope with the students and Cedric if he had Ron as a friend, but he wasn't going to try and persuade him to talk if he didn't want to. Nevertheless, it was lonely, with dislike pouring in on him from all sides.

He could understand the Hufflepuffs' attitudes, even if he didn't like it; they had their own Champion to support. He expected nothing less than vicious, snide insults from the Slytherins – he was highly unpopular with them and always had been. But he had hoped that the Ravenclaws would find it in their hearts to support him as much as Cedric. He was wrong, however, as most of them seemed to think that he had been desperate to be in the limelight and had tricked the Goblet of Fire into accepting his name.

Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a Champion so completely. He was just a gangly, short fourth year, while Cedric was exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair and stunning grey eyes, not to mention the body, though Harry constantly told himself he had never looked. It was hard to say who was receiving more attention these days, Cedric or Viktor. Harry had seen the same sixth-year girls who had been so desperate to get Krum's autograph, begging Cedric to sign their school bags one lunchtime. In all honesty, Harry probably would have been one of them, if he didn't have so much pride and wanted to keep what dignity he had left in one piece.

Meanwhile there was no reply from Sirius, Hedwig was still sulking about him using a different owl, strange prideful bird that she was, Professor Trelawney was predicting his death with even more certainty than usual, and he did so badly at Summoning Charms that Professor Flitwick gave him extra homework.

"It really isn't that difficult," Hermione sighed, "You just weren't concentrating properly –"

"Wonder why that is?" said Harry darkly, as Cedric Diggory walked past, a small smile at Harry confusing him like it did every time, surrounded by simpering girls who all looked at him like he was a particularly large Blast-Ended Skrewt. "Still – Never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon…"

"You should talk to him, Harry. Whatever is going on between you too is bothering you far too much," Hermione said suddenly, watching Cedric and his stalkers disappear down the hall.

"I've told you, Hermione, if Ron wants to be the biggest twat in Hogwart's history that's his problem…"

"Not Ron! Cedric!" she hissed, looking round anxiously to see if anyone had heard her. Of course no one had.

"Oh…I don't want to."

"Harry, it's obviously –"

"I don't want to talk to him ok, Hermione, now drop it," Harry snapped venomously.

"Oh…Alright. I just…Sorry, Harry."

"Don't be. Sorry, it's just a…delicate subject."

* * *

Harry was unsure whether or not he wanted to hug or hex Colin Creevey as they left the Dungeons. On one hand, the boy had gotten him out of Potions and stopped Snape from poisoning him, though the boy would probably faint if he did hug him, and on the other hand, he had announced to the entire class of Slytherins that he was going to have a photoshoot. There was no doubt that he was going to have that rubbed in his face for a good while.

"It's amazing isn't it, Harry?" said Colin excitedly, the younger boy was practically bouncing as he walked. "Isn't it, though? You being Champion and everything!"

"Yeah, it's really amazing," Harry said half-heartedly as they headed up the steps in the Entrance Hall. "What do they want the photo's for, Colin?"

The use of his name sent the boy into further hysterics and it took him a few moments to stop himself hyperventilating. "T-The _Daily Prophet,_ I think!"

"Brilliant," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes, "Just what I need. More publicity."

"Good luck!" Colin squeaked, when they reached the right room. Harry knocked twice and entered.

He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle. Ludo Bagman was in the room and talking to a witch he had never seen before in magenta robes.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual, not talking to anyone. It struck Harry that maybe the older boy didn't speak English…Or he just didn't know how to talk…It was possible. Cedric and Fleur were talking quietly, and the Veela-looking girl looked much happier than Harry had ever seen her. She kept flicking her hair back and batting her eye lashes at the handsome Hufflepuff, and Harry was no expert, but he could tell she was flirting.

Cedric broke off mid-sentence to look round at him and smiled slightly before turning back to Fleur, who was now glaring at Harry for ruining her conversation. Bagman seemed to have spotted Harry and beaming, he gestured for him to join their little group. "Ah, here he is! Champion number four! Nothing to worry about Harry, just the Wand Weighing ceremony, and it will start in a little while –"

"Wand Weighing?" Harry repeated nervously.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, you know. They're your most important tools in the Tournament." Bagman explained, still beaming. "This is Rita Skeeter, she'll be doing a small piece on the Tournament and the Champions for the _Daily Prophet_…"

"Maybe not _that_ small, Ludo," said the witch with what was meant to be a charming smile, her beady eyes set on Harry.

Before he knew it, Harry had been bundled into a broom cupboard and was being questioned by the vicious woman. She just kept bombarding him with questions and he barely had the chance to think about what he was saying. The quill distracted him for a moment, he had no idea how long he was in the squashed little room for before he got annoyed with the writing on the parchment between them.

"I have NOT got tears in my eyes!" said Harry loudly.

Before Rita could say a word, the door opened suddenly, and Harry looked round, blinking in the bright light to see Albus Dumbledore's face. Cedric stood a little behind, looking in with a mixture of concern and curiosity on his face, though the bronze-haired boy looked away with faintly pink cheeks when he realised Harry had noticed.

"Dumbledore!" cried Rita with fake delight, her clawed fingers holding the clasps of her crocodile-skin bag to her chest. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore politely, his eyes twinkling. "I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita…But I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later on. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot continue if one of our Champions is being held hostage in a broom cupboard."

Harry was very glad to be taken away from the vile woman and fled to the safety of the classroom where everyone was settled, taking a seat behind Cedric.

"May I please introduce Mr Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges table. "He will be checking your wands to ensure they are in good condition before the Tournament."

Harry looked round with a jolt of surprise when he saw an old, short wizard with large pale eyes and white hair standing quietly by the window. Harry had met Mr Ollivander once before – he was the wand-maker in Diagon Alley, the same man who he had bought his wand from over three years ago.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could I have you forward first please?" The old man asked, stepping into the empty portion of the room.

"Of course," Fleur said brightly and swept over to Mr Ollivander, flicking her hair back as she handed him her wand.

"Hmmm…Yes," he said quietly, twirling it in his hand like a baton, "Nine and a half inches…Inflexible…Rosewood I believe…and containing…dear me…"

"An' 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," Fleur stated with a smile. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

Harry sucked in his breath. So Fleur _was_ part Veela. He made a mental note to tell Ron before he remembered that he wasn't actually talking to him. The bastard.

"Yes," Mr Ollivander continued, "yes, I never used Veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for a rather temperamental wand, however, each to his own and if this suits you…"

The old man paused, running his fingers across the surface, checking for any scratches or bumps; then murmured an incantation. A bunch of bright flowers burst from the tip, which he handed to Fleur, who beamed.

"Very well, it is in fine working order…Mr Diggory, you next."

As Fleur glided to her seat, smiling at Cedric as she passed him, Cedric sauntered, or rather Harry accused him of sauntering, to Mr Ollivander.

"Ah, now this is one of mine, isn't it?" said the man when he got his hands on the Hufflepuff's wand. "Yes, I remember it well…Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn…Must have been seventeen hands and nearly speared me with his horn after I plucked it. Twelve and a quarter inches…ash…pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition…Do you treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night," Cedric said with a grin, his eyes flickering to Harry who sunk in his chair.

Why did this guy have to be so perfect at everything!? Harry looked down at his own wand, examining the finger marks all over it. Gathering up a fistful of robes, he tried to rub it clean without anyone noticing. Several gold sparks erupted from the tip, Fleur gave him a patronising look and Cedric turned back to Ollivander with a wider grin than before. Blushing, Harry dropped the cloth and looked down at his feet.

Having pronounced Cedric's wand as satisfactory, of course it would be, it was probably perfect like its owner, Mr Ollivander gestured to Viktor Krum. "And yourself next, Mr Krum."

Krum stood and slouched towards the frail man, scowling as he handed over his wand.

"Hmm," Mr Ollivander hummed, turning it over in front of his eyes, "Yes…Hornbeam and dragon heartstring? Rather thicker than one usually sees…quite rigid…ten and a quarter inches…In fine working order…"

Mr Ollivander handed Krum's wand back and turned stiffly to Harry, his eyes twinkling with something akin to excitement. "Which leaves you…Mr Potter…"

Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to the old wand-maker. He handed the man his wand.

"Aaah, yes," Mr Ollivander said breathlessly, his eyes gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

The wand-maker took a lot longer examining Harry's wand than anyone else's, the fact not going unmissed by Fleur who was now scowling like Krum. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.

Silently, Harry celebrated like a child, Ollivander had said Cedric's wand was satisfactory, Harry's was perfect. No, the fact that he was playing on words to put him on level with Cedric Diggory did not go unnoticed by him, but it was all he had to work with.

"Thank you all," Dumbledore said, standing up and smiling warmly.

"You may all go back to your lessons now – or perhaps you should go straight down to dinner as they are about to finish –"

"Photos Dumbledore! Photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions. What do you think, Rita."

"Yes…Those first…Then perhaps some individual shots," she said, her eyes on Harry.

Harry couldn't help but wonder what he could have possibly done to fate to deserve this. Fortunately, he was allowed to place himself, and he tried to place himself in the shadow of Madame Maxime, but Rita was having none of it. She tried dragging him to the front, but as he was too tall compared to Fleur, a God-Send in his opinion, he was placed conveniently next to Cedric. The boy was beaming next to him, looking more handsome than ever, however this time when Harry found fingers gently running across his hand, he had enough sense not to jump out of his skin and look accusingly at the older boy.

Instead, some kind of courage took him over and his fingers pressed back, causing the grin on Cedric's face to widen a little more, though his hand jerked firmly from Harry's. The guy was _playing_ with him! He was sure of it! Either that or Cedric suffered from multiple personalities, which he doubted, the boy was far too perfect.

He had just made up his mind to take Hermione's advice and talk to him about it when they were finally freed from Rita Skeeter's taloned hands, but Cedric had already disappeared.

Great. Did the Hufflepuff have any idea what he wanted? That was it, the dragon-hide gloves were off; by Sunday evening he was going to have spoken to Cedric about his behaviour, even if he had to perform a full body locking jinx to do it.


	10. Chapter Eight

**Author's Note: **Hello, all my lovely readers, subscribers and reviewers! I'm so sorry this took so long to get out, but I've only just got over that stupid virus I had and it's still not completely gone, but hey, life sucks sometimes, that's what makes it such a fun ride. Sorry if I'm freaking you out, but I just had some pain killers, which means one thing: A hyper me. Hence the fact that the last part of this story, the conversation after he's just done the task, is a little more out-there than usual. Don't forget to review! Who knows, maybe if I get sixty reviews there will be a special little bonus again. xD Is that bad? Me bribing people to review? Oh well who cares. I hope enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it and this is by **far** my favourite! Finally some proper Cedric x Harry interaction, with a hint of attempted humor, of course. Thanks much and enjoy!

* * *

The First Task

_Calm down, Harry. You'll be fine. Hell you've done things like this before…Remember the Basalisk? You were fine…Despite a little bite you were fine…Ok so the fang got wedged in your arm, you lived to tell the tale right? Yeah…I'll be fine, it's only a dragon after all…Sirius said that there had to be a spell to get through its thick skin…Geeze sounds like Ron and his thick head…But there's nothing that gets through that bastards skull…Damn it…I'm…_

_**I AM SO SCREWED!**_

Harry sighed angrily to himself, trying to ignore his little internal battle, casting a sideward glance at said red-head and continued to push his breakfast round his plate with his fork. He had barely slept at all last night, and when he woke up on the Monday morning it was the first time he seriously considered running away from Hogwarts. But when he looked around the Great Hall and thought about everything that he would lose, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was the one place he had ever been happy, and the idea of not seeing Cedric's face every day was daunting.

Somehow, Harry didn't think he'd be able to live without his little obsession.

With some encouragement from Hermione, he finished his bacon, with a lot of difficult since his throat had decided it didn't want to work anymore. As he and the bushy haired girl stood, he saw Cedric get up from the Hufflepuff table and head towards the Entrance Hall.

Suddenly he was struck with the realisation, with the force of a speeding bludger, that Cedric still didn't know about the dragons. Madame Maxime and Karkaroff were bound to have told Fleur and Krum. What if Cedric got hurt because he didn't know?!

"Hermione, I'll see you at the Greenhouses," Harry said quickly, watching Cedric carefully as he started backing away from his friend. "Go on, I'll catch up."

"Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to go!"

"Look, just go, I'll catch up, alright?"

With that, Harry jogged towards the door, ignoring the irritated shouts that followed him as he barged past the other students. By the time he reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was already at the top. He was with a bunch of sixth year friends too; he noticed some of them as the ones who cast him death glares and the ones who quoted Rita Skeeter at him when he walked down the hallway. The group were heading towards the Charms corridor, and Harry was struck by sudden inspiration and taking out his wand he took careful aim at Cedric's bag.

"Diffindo!"

Just as he wished, Cedric's bag split, sending parchment, quills and books flying to the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed, covering the loose paper and covers. A pang of guilt washed over him, and Harry hoped desperately that he hadn't just ruined the boy's homework.

"Don't bother," Cedric said in an exasperated voice, as his friends bent down to help him, "tell Flitwick I'll be there in a minute, go on…"

As the collection of girls and boys disappeared into their classrooms, which left the corridor empty of everyone but himself and Cedric. Harry checked behind him before he hurried out towards the handsome Hufflepuff.

"Oh…Hey, Harry…Aren't you supposed to be in class," Cedric asked as he picked up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. "My bag split…Brand new and all…"

Harry didn't wait to listen to the rest of the boy's moan before he'd gathered as much of the boy's belongings as he could and started backing away from Cedric.

"Harry? Thanks, can I have that back? Flitwick will kill me if I'm any later…"

Shaking his head, Harry couldn't help but grin wickedly at the confused look that crossed Cedric's face. Knowing exactly where he wanted to go, he quickly shot off back the way he'd come, glancing over his shoulder to check that the Hufflepuff was following him. Of course Cedric had looked between his classroom door and Harry before jogging after him, a scowl on his face.

"Harry! Get back here!" he hissed, easily catching up.

_Just a little further…_

Harry flung the door of a nearby broom cupboard open and waited for Cedric to stop. As soon as the boy did, he grabbed the front of the bronze haired boy's robes and pulled him inside, holding the items in his arms between them.

"Harry…"

"Shh."

"What the hell did you bring me in here for?! If Flitwick kills me it's your fault – "

"Cedric, I needed to make sure that we wouldn't be found…" Harry said softly, shaking his head to clear the mist blocking it from the boy's closeness. He could feel the Hufflepuff's breath on his face, his arms the only barrier to his chest. He suddenly had the strange urge to drop Cedric's belongings and push himself against the warm body instead of the cold wall. Cedric on the other hand appeared to be leaning as far away from Harry as he could. It was that and the boy's words that bought him to his senses.

"Harry, what's this about?"

"Dragons."

"Beg your pardon?" Cedric asked politely but anything but quiet.

"Keep your voice down idiot!" Harry hissed, nudging the boy gently to get his point across before he continued. "The first task is dragons. They have one for all four of us…"

His voice caught in his throat when Cedric stiffened further, his eyes set on Harry's face. He saw some of the panic he had been feeling since Saturday night flicker in the older boy's face. But that wasn't right! Cedric wasn't allowed to be frightened! He was Harry's rock, the thing that kept him grounded right now.

_If he's worried I stand no chance…_

"Are you…sure?" Cedric whispered.

"Dead sure…I've seen them."

The pair was silent for a while before Harry tried to lift the mood. "At least you're quiet now…"

A strangled half laugh escaped the boy in front of him and Harry was firmly reminded that Cedric was still human, not some God no matter how good he looked.

"Harry, how did you find out? We're not supposed to know? What have you been up to?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm not the only one who knows either. I'm pretty sure the others do, so you don't need to go and tell Fleur."

"Why would I tell Fleur?" Cedric whispered, suddenly a lot closer than he had been a moment ago. He loomed over Harry and the little dark haired boy had to tilt his head up, causing the older of the pair to smirk slightly.

"Well, she's been all over you, I just thought…"

"Pftt. Now I know why you weren't put in Ravenclaw. You hardly use your brain, do you Harry?"

"Hey! I do s –"

Harry was cut off by two fingers pressed to his lips, Cedric smiling crookedly down at him. His brow furrowed before they were ironed out by another hand, he couldn't help but drop the books and quills in his arms to the floor.

"I was joking, Harry…Besides, you shouldn't frown, I much prefer it when you smile…" It was difficult to tell in the half light…but Harry could have sworn Cedric was blushing.

_Why in the name of Merlin is he blushing!_

"Remove your fingers before I bite them," Harry muttered and Cedric's hand lurched from his face, the older boy chuckling deeply.

"I never knew you were violent, Potter."

"I'm just full of surprises…" Harry said, poking his tongue out and folding his arms across his chest with a pout.

"I've changed my mind, I like that expression more than your smile," the Hufflepuff teased, grinning as the dark haired boy wrinkled his nose up at him. Cedric laughed again before his face sobered up into a serious expression.

"Why are you telling me about the dragon's Harry? You'd have the upper hand."

Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Harry wouldn't have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared…Well, maybe Malfoy or Snape…And definitely Voldemort…

"Well…I just…You said that you were worried about me entering the Tournament and so am I, just not for myself, but for you too…I just…Don't want you to get hurt. I guess I…Care about you too."

Silence fell on the pair as Cedric gaped at Harry, his own face sporting a small frown at his words. For an insane moment, Harry thought the Hufflepuff was angry at him. That was until he saw the red flush on Cedric's cheekbones deepen.

"That's very thoughtful Harry…" he whispered, leaning over Harry, shuffling forward instinctually to press the younger boy's back to the wall. The pair swallowed thickly, Harry closed his eyes, biting his lower lip, trying to gain some semblance of control.

_Stupid hormones!_

He practically jumped out of his skin when he felt fingers pressed to his mouth where he had wanted lips. Despite himself he opened his mouth, nibbling on the pad of Cedric's index finger, opening his eyes accusingly. A soft, barely audible groan escaped the boy in front of him and Cedric was once again tense; eyes darkened to a deeper grey as he pulled his hand from Harry's face for a second time.

"Told you I'd bite…" Harry muttered huskily, swallowing again.

"I'm sorry, Harry…I just don't want our first kiss – Damn it why is it so difficult to keep my mouth shut around you?"

"Don't want your mouth shut," Harry muttered childishly, scowling at the ground.

"I'm just…I'm sorry, Harry, but you're just too young…"

"Not that young, not that much younger than you!" Harry insisted, the scowl deepening, only faltering under Cedric's gentle touch.

"I just…Don't want to hurt you," whispered Cedric, his fingers tracing Harry's lips briefly before moving along the smaller boy's jaw line.

Harry nodded dumbly, all thoughts of class gone from his head and he smiled cheekily.

"Your dorm or mine…"

"Neither, young man," Cedric said with an equally mischievous smile, winking slightly. His gaze fell to their feet and his eyes widened when he saw the books and quills.

"Oh shi-ugar…" he exclaimed, managing to catch himself before he swore, glancing at Harry who frowned quizzically as he bent to collect the items, nudging the boy's knee out of the way. "Class Harry…We're so late…"

"Oh crap, yeah!"

"Language, Potter," Cedric said gently with a small smile.

"Oops, sorry…" Harry said with a devious grin, before he opened the door. He looked round to the Hufflepuff Prefect, but the older boy was staring past him with wide, slightly fearful, eyes. Frowning, Harry looked round his gaze falling on Mad-Eye Moody.

_Oh __**crap**__!_

* * *

Time was behaving erratically. It was rushing past at ridiculous speeds, so one moment he was sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and then the next…He was walking to lunch. Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall looking shaky and worried. Everyone was watching.

"Potter, the Champions have to go down to the grounds now…You have to get ready for the first task."

"Ok…" Harry muttered, looking down at the plate of half crushed food, letting his fork clatter to the table.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"

"Yeah," he dark haired boy sighed and offered the girl a half smile before he followed Professor McGonagall to the Entrance Hall.

He then noticed that the woman was acting as anxious as Hermione had. As she walked down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Or, he assumed it was a comforting grip as his Transfiguration teacher's hand was trembling.

"Now, don't panic," she said, a nervous tremor developing in the usually firm and strict voice. "You just have to keep a cool head…We've got wizards on hand to control the situation if it gets out of hand. The main thing is just do your best, and nobody will think any worse of you…"

_Except the Slytherins…But hell, who needs them anyway!_Harry thought calmly a small smile on his face. This did nothing to still Professor McGonagall who seemed to think he was having some kind of breakdown.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," Harry said and smiled again. "I'm fine."

She was leading him towards the place the dragons were, around the edge of the Forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind, Harry saw that a tent had been put up, screening the dragons from view.

"You're to go in there with the other Champions and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr Bagman is in there…he'll inform you of the procedure…" The woman offered another shaky smile and turned to leave with a flick of her robes, "Oh and Potter…"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Good luck."

Harry gulped slightly but his high spirits remained in one piece. This reaction was new, he'd never acted like this under any other pressure, and the idea of a huge dragon out for his blood was anything but comforting and in league with all the past monsters. Perhaps it was the fact that wizards would be controlling the event and he wasn't left on his own…Or perhaps it was the idea that if he did well Cedric would be more willing to act on the feelings he supposedly harboured, after all, if he defeated a dragon there would be no way the Hufflepuff could do any damage.

"Thanks," he said gently and turned to the entrance, stepping inside of the tent.

The tension in the small area stripped his good mood away, and the realisation that that task could go horribly wrong, for not only himself but Cedric too, suddenly made his stomach clench uncomfortably.

_Ah nerves._

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool, her hands clasped firmly in her lap, staring at the floor as her lips moved silently; probably running through as many spells as she could remember. She didn't look half as composed as she usually did…In fact she looked pale, clammy and sickly. Viktor Krum was surlier than ever and Harry assumed that was how the older boy dealt with his anxiety. Cedric was pacing back and forth across the space. Sensing Harry's presence he looked up and offered the Gryffindor a friendly, if not small, smile. The dark haired boy tried to beam back, but his face was suddenly stiff and the Hufflepuff Champion's brow furrowed in concern.

"Harry! Oh good!" Bagman suddenly cried, interrupting Cedric's silent probing. The man looked like an over-grown cartoon character, strangely bright and excited amid the pale and nervous Champions wearing his old Wasp robes.

"Well now we're all here – it's time to fill you all in! When the audience has assembled I will offer you this bag here. Inside there is a…figure of the thing you are about to face…I have to tell you something else too…Oh curses what was it…Ah yes! Your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Harry glanced round to see Fleur and Krum in the same positions, almost as if they had ignored Ludo Bagman's words. Cedric nodded once to show he understood and Harry merely smiled weakly.

"Can I…Have some fresh air?" he asked suddenly and Cedric's eyes flashed towards him.

"I…Of course you can my boy!" Bagman cried and grinned, watching Harry stride towards the entrance.

Harry couldn't escape the tension quickly enough, but it was too late to rescue his good mood, he felt like he had been in a tent of Dementors, not teenagers. Sighing heavily, he slipped around the back of the tent and leant against the fabric.

"Worried?"

The Gryffindor's head snapped round and saw that Cedric was walking slowly towards him, with that worried expression on his face again. The older boy stopped in front of him, his hands hidden in his robes.

"Would you think I was lying if I said no?"

"Yes."

Harry pouted slightly and a strangled laugh escaped the Hufflepuff, the boy turning his head to hide his grin.

"Something funny?"

"It's just hard to believe that they…" Cedric's smile faltered and his shook his head, "That they expect you to defeat it…You just look so…"

"Demonic?" Harry said with a small smile of his own, "Evil? Ugly?"

"Adorable," the older boy corrected him.

"Oh…Now, what did you mean by you can't believe they expect me to defeat it?! I'm as – "

"I'm sorry, Harry I didn't mean it like that…I'm just…worried about you that's all…"

"You don't need to be," Harry mumbled and folded his arms, leaning back against the canvas while staring off into the forest. "I'm not a kid Cedric, I don't need you protection."

_Liar_, a small voice in his head said smugly, _You __**like**__ the attention…You __**like**__ the way he cares about you…After all, it's not like you've experienced it before have you?_

Scowling, the dark haired boy pushed the hiss to the back of his head, it sounded a lot like an angry, frustrated Hermione, and the last thing he needed was her help with this relationship.

_Wait! What relationship?! We don't __**have**__ a relationship!_

_But you'd like one wouldn't you?_

_Shut up!_

The Hufflepuff shifted uncomfortably during this little internal debate and eventually reached out to touch the Gryffindor's shoulder. "Harry…I just wanted to say…I'm not going to fight anymore."

"What?"

"This…Feeling. I don't want to fight it."

Harry stood gobsmacked, his mouth opening and closing for a moment. "I…er…_What_?"

"Geeze, and you got angry with me for saying you never got into Ravenclaw for a reason, if you want me to stop saying it, stop making it true…"

"Hey! I do use my brain, you just distra – "

Harry's words were cut short as soft lips pressed to his, firm but tender, and delightfully relenting against his own. The younger boy's wide eyes drifted to a close, his hands coming up to grip Cedric's upper arms as the Hufflepuff's fabric covered hands sought his face. A soft groan escaped him and Cedric pulled away, swallowing before taking a forced step back.

"W-Wow…"

"Ced – "

"Good luck, Harry!"

With that the bronze haired boy turned and strode to the entrance of the tent, not looking back.

_Cedric Diggory I will never understand you in a million years! Time to learn that body-binding jinx so I keep the idiot still!_

"G-Good luck, Cedric…"

* * *

Harry had got through the first task…And he had **survived**!

"That was excellent, Mr Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he landed, the Gryffindor smiled weakly, butterflies still dancing in his stomach and adrenaline rushing through his veins…Coming from his Transfiguration teacher that was some serious praise. He noticed the slightest tremor in her hand as she pointed to the cut on his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madame Pomfrey before the judges give you your score…Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already…"

Harry felt his heart clench and his stomach drop at his teachers 'off the cuff' comment and had the undeniable urge to run to the medical tent and make sure that Cedric was alright. Hagrid on the other hand seemed to have a different plan.

"Yeh did it, Harry!" the gigantic man all but bellowed, was this allowed? Wasn't this classed as favouritism over the other champion? "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all! Yer know Charlie said that was the wors' – "

"Thanks, Hagrid," Harry said loudly to stop his friend from getting into trouble.

Professor Moody seemed very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket before it set its unnerving gaze on him.

"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled with a small wink, as if he saw how jittery he was to check on Cedric. Of course the man probably did and a light blush tinted his cheeks at the memory of old Mad-Eye dragging him from the broom cupboard that he and the Hufflepuff had been hiding in a few days previously.

"Right then, Potter, the first-aid tent, please…" said Professor McGonagall.

Harry nodded and turned to walk out of the enclosure, still panting to find Madame Pomfrey standing at the entrance of the tent with a mixture of worry and determination on her face. She set her eyes on his as he got close enough and bustled him into the tent with a wave of her hand, mumbling something about dragons and children not going well together under her breath.

The Gryffindor sat himself in his cubicle and watched the Medi-witch work around him, barely aware of his cut healing with a poke of her wand. He was far too busy staring at the shadowed outline of Cedric through the dividing canvas. He made to stand and leave but the older woman placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed his back down into the wooden chair.

"Just sit here quietly for a minute…_Sit!_" she hissed, waving her wand warningly in front of him as he squirmed. Content that he wasn't going to leave, she strode from the tent to join Cedric.

"How does it feel now, Mr Diggory?"

"Fine," was the reply and it was so bright that Harry just knew the boy was smiling.

"Well…You shouldn't wash it off until this evening, do you understand young man?" The Medi-witch was using the same tone that she had just used on Harry, and he was sure that she was threatening Cedric with her wand as well.

"Yes, Ma'am, thank you."

"You're very welcome."

There was the sound of a skirt swishing and suddenly Cedric's voice sounded again.

"Thank God she's gone. I swear, if she put any more of this foul, yellow gloop on my face I was going to jinx her. How am I meant to seduce you with this…_stuff_ all over my face?"

Harry chuckled slightly, all too aware that he would have to be careful with his words, anyone could be listening.

"And **who** was worried about **who**?" he asked smugly and he could practically envision the scowl that the older boy would be sporting.

"It's not that bad…"

"I only had a cut on my shoulder."

"Yes but only you could out-fly a creature that was **born** to fly, Potter."

"Why thank you, Mr Diggory."

"Call me Cedric."

Harry looked up to see two people at the entrance of his tent and stiffened slightly, hoping that whoever it was hadn't overheard their conversation. It was Hermione and the short girl was followed closely by a gangly red-head…Ron.

"Harry! You were brilliant! Absolutely amazing!" Hermione squeaked and Harry could hear a gentle chuckle behind him, signifying that Cedric was listening in on his conversation.

Ignoring his friends he turned to the canvas. "Shut up, you! I'm trying to have private and confidential conversation with my friends…er, friend," Harry corrected, glancing at Ron.

"Of course…And Harry?"

"Yes, Cedric?"

"Don't be too hard on him."

"WHAT!" Harry practically cried and turned to look at Ron, but no answer came from behind the canvas, apparently he was on his own.

The boy looked down, grunting as Hermione stamped on his foot before Ron looked up at Harry, his face white.

"Harry," he said in a serious voice, "Whoever put your name into that Goblet…I think they were trying to do you in!"

"Caught on have you?" Harry asked coolly, ignoring the cough behind him. "Took you long enough."

Ron opened his mouth uncertainly and the Champion just knew he was going to apologise. He suddenly realised he didn't need or want to hear it.

"It's alright, Ron," he said before the boy could get the words out. "Forget it."

"No," Ron said firmly, "I shouldn't've – "

"I mean it, forget it. Now stop talking before I hex you, you can't help it that you're a prat sometimes," Harry teased and Ron laughed slightly, the pair grinned nervously at each other, glad it was finally over.

Hermione chose that point to burst into tears.

"You two are so _stupid!_" she shrieked and stamped her foot, throwing her arms around the both of them before storming from the tent.

Harry and Ron stared at each other for a moment with a small frown.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked.

"I agree with her, you are both idiots," Cedric's voice cut in, but Harry once again heard the smile in the words.

"No one asked your opinion, Diggory," Harry said with a grin, "Now excuse me but I need to get my scores."

Beaming Harry and Ron walked from the tent together and the dark haired boy couldn't help the euphoria that swept through him. He'd survived a dragon, Ron was back on his side and he'd been kissed by the unbelievably good-looking Mr Unattainable, Cedric Diggory.

Not to sound cliché…But life was good.


	11. Bonus Chapter: 50 Reviews

**Author's Note:** Oh my gee! Wow. Thank you all so much for you support, and the reviews all of which made me smile, especially the ones about the last chapter. I love it too. xD Anywho, like I 'not-so' subtly hinted, here is a little thank you bonus chapter, from Cedric's point of view, for the most reviews I have ever got! Expect a few things to be cleared up. Also the fact that I have a little excitable voice in the back of my head chanting: 'Half way to a hundred!' probably has something to do with it! You have no idea how reluctant I was to let this out! All I had in my head was the possiblity of reviews hitting me for making Cedric do this...Hmmm...I dunno...Enjoy and thank you again for your support!

Warning: This contains solo masturbation, this was marked a mature peice for a reason, consider yourselves warned, although there is fluff, there is also smut!

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Bonus Chapter: 50 Reviews

Cedric looked down at the Daily Prophet in his hands; his father had sent him another copy on the off chance that he somehow hadn't read the Triwizard Tournament cover by that retched Rita Skeeter. Amos Diggory had also sent an indignant letter about how he had better show 'that blasted Potter' how real magic and courage was done, also meant no doubt to make him feel better that his father was still rooting for him.

If anything the article and his dad's letter had sickened him and it was only now in the safety of his dorm he allowed himself to feel the confusing annoyance with the man. Perched on the edge of his bed the Hufflepuff groaned and ran a hand through his hair staring down at the large picture of Harry, smiling shyly up at him from the paper in his grip.

This was ridiculous. Why couldn't he just stay away from the boy? He was too innocent, that tempting body wasn't his to touch, despite how much he wanted to. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't bring himself to ignore Harry Potter and for that Cedric felt a confusing mixture of anger and…lust.

No, no, NO! It wasn't lust, it was…desire. No! Same thing by a different name, it was…God there was no point lying to himself anymore and he might as well just accept the fact. He, Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff Prefect and top of all his classes desired Harry Potter. Small, innocent Harry with those large eyes that seemed to search for his. There was no hiding it, every time he realised the younger boy was looking at him a thrill of electricity shot down his spine and his stomach would jump.

Oh and when Harry had looked at him with those eyes, wide, bright green, piercing…He had been smiling, probably something that Granger had said, or maybe it was the twins. Cedric would give up anything just to be in that common room for one evening, to be one of Harry's confiders, just to get near that boy so he could maybe experience what it was like to kiss those lips that looked so deliciously soft…

Another half snarling, half whimpering groan escaped the boy and Cedric tossed the paper from his body, trying desperately to sooth his raging hormones. One thought seemed to have some kind of effect on his libido; it was Cho Chang's voice in his head.

_You pervert! He's fourteen Ced, I mean for the love of Merlin, I know you like him, and that's ok, but drooling over him in your bedroom is __**not**__ the thing to be doing!_

Despite himself, he couldn't help but agree with the annoying voice with a crooked smile. Yes, he was seventeen, he was of age, but Harry…God, Harry was jailbait. Still he couldn't keep his mind off of the developing body, was it honestly so wrong to just want a little taste of what that boy had to offer? Of course not, he convinced himself, it was natural to want someone, he just wouldn't act on it.

_It won't be that easy idiot, once you accept it you'll want to act on it, and you're a thick-headed, stubborn, horny teen Ced, you have the same sexual discipline as McGonagall does when it comes to giving out homework._

Smiling slightly, Cedric brushed the thought aside and clambered onto his bed, slipping under the covers. The more selfish, less moral part of him was whispering delicious fantasies in his mind and he couldn't help but close his eyes and envision it.

It started out just after the first task, he had no idea what he was doing but he had done well. The entire school was cheering him on, he'd been given the highest score and Harry had come over to congratulate him when the crowd had dispersed. It was later afternoon and the boy was closer than usual to see him. He gripped the little Gryffindor's wrist and pulled him to his chest, letting his fingers tunnel through those gorgeous raven locks. Harry was smiling at him and tilted his head as Cedric's mouth descended to his.

The Hufflepuff Prefect shifted on the bed, trying to relieve the sudden tightness in his pyjama bottoms. Biting his lower lip, Cedric ignored the voice now screeching at him to stop and let one hand slide beneath the comforter and pass the low hanging pants. His other hand reached for his wand, casting a quick silencing spell on the door and walls before his fingers gently brushed his arousal. Grey eyes fluttered shut with a breathy groan and Cedric succumbed to the images once more.

Harry was moaning softly against him, the boy's arms wrapped round his neck, his hips pressed lusciously to Cedric's. Unable to help himself, the older Hufflepuff let his hands slide down the Gryffindor's back to rest on his backside, gently squeezing and eliciting another soft whine from the lips beneath his own. He pulled his lips from Harry's and trailed soft kisses down his neck, nipping the skin and sucking, marking the pale flesh, claiming that amazing body as his own. Nimble fingers entwined in his hair and another barely audible cry escaped Harry, the younger boy's breath hitching in his throat.

Cedric startled himself out of his dream world as his back arched from the bed and pleasure shot up his spine, his breathing slowly submitting to the ragged pants. Rolling his hand up his erection, the boy groaned loudly, his toes curling as he thought about Harry, lying beneath him, writhing in agonising bliss, those brilliant green eyes dazed with lust, his kiss swollen lips parted as hitching breaths passed them.

He was so close…So close. He imagined what it would be like to hear Harry cry his name, and his mind blessed him with another image of the young boy's body taut and arched, wild black hair cast round his head like a halo as his eyes squeezed shut. A cry filled Cedric's ears and his mind blanked as he reached his climax, his own back snapping into an arch as his eyes rolled back into his head. This was the closest he would ever get to the stars, he was there with them, and the teen wanted nothing more than for Harry to be there with him.

As his body sunk boneless into the mattress, Cedric realising torpidly that the cry had been his own, not Harry's. His breathing evened out and smiling sleepily, Cedric rolled onto his side, his thoughts remaining on the Gryffindor who would right now be in his bed. Was it possible Harry was thinking about him too? Did he want that?

_Of course you do, you selfish idiot._

It seemed that the voice had made a comeback. Too relaxed to be angry, Cedric merely shrugged his shoulders, trying to convince himself that this was enough, that just this was enough. But as the boy slipped into sleep Cedric already knew the answer. He was selfish. And if Harry Potter wanted him, then who was he to deny him? He would be selfish for once in his life and do something that he wanted, not necessarily what was right.


	12. Chapter Nine

**Author's Note:** Oh my God! I am so sorry for keeping you all waiting for such a long time! I'm sure some of you had given up on me, please; feel free to beat me up severely for my absence. I've been bogged down with essays, mini exams and I've been offered an audition for the Royal Academy of Music, which is yes, a big deal for me. I think that's why the mood of this chapter is a lot lighter than the last couple, not too much angst (if any). Whoo! Again my deepest apologies! Enjoy! =3

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Congratulations Are In Order

When Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Gryffindor Common room some hours later they weren't surprised to see that Fred and George had indeed prepared a 'surprise' celebration party. He found the majority of his House crowded around the portrait hole that he had just tripped through cheering his name while patting (or rather pounding) him on the back. Convinced he was going to have bruises at the end of the evening; Harry grinned back at them and looked around at the room.

There were mountains of Cauldron cakes and flagons of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice on every available surface. Dean Thomas had drawn banners and posters depicting Harry zooming round the Horntails head on his Firebolt, though to his great displeasure, a few had Cedric running around in circles with his head on fire. He was however determined that it wouldn't ruin his evening and that he'd thank Dean profusely for his actions.

He helped himself to the food and sat in a corner with Ron and Hermione, the red-head ushering people away when they got too close, it seemed the boy was determined to make it up to him in any way possible…And Harry wasn't complaining, he needed a bodyguard. He couldn't believe how happy he felt; he had Ron back on his side, he'd gotten through the first task, the second wasn't for three months and he'd been kissed, true not too thoroughly, by Cedric Diggory.

Almost as if Hermione had read his thoughts the girl gasped loudly and started rummaging in her robes, leaving Ron and Harry too look at her then at each other. The red-head shrugged and took a slug of his Butterbeer watching the bushy head shake in exasperation.

"It's here somewhere!" she hissed before giving a short laugh of triumph waving a piece of paper under Harry's nose.

"I knew I'd find it."

"Er…Right," Harry muttered frowning at the torn paper in her hand as she pushed it into his chest, "What is it?"

She gave him a very 'Hermione' look and sighed rolling her eyes, "Oh for Goodness sake Harry, it's from _Him_, I saw him outside of the tent and he dropped it in front of me. So I picked it up and after I saw your name on the side I put it in my robes for safe keeping…"

"I didn't read it," she quickly added and smiled slightly watching at the scruffy haired Champion looked down at the parchment.

When Harry made no movement to unfold it, Ron made to snatch it but backed his hand away when Harry fisted it, an uncharacteristic snarl escaping him.

"Well open it then!" Ron snapped and sighed as Harry blinked, his cheek staining red when he realised his reaction. It was difficult to accept how…possessive he was of Cedric to himself, let alone to his friends, but it seemed they knew exactly how to push his buttons.

"Yeah…Right…Sorry."

"No problem mate."

With shaky fingers, though Harry was unsure as to why they were, he flattened the parchment on his thigh and looked down warily at the careful writing a grin slowly working its way onto his mouth.

_Harry,_

_I think you need a big congratulation, one that I would like to give you myself. I'll meet you outside of the Gryffindor portrait at twelve; at least there are some good things about being a Prefect. Try not to be late I can't stay in one place too long and the Gryffindor Prefects don't seem to like me too much. _

_Cedric_

Feeling his heart clench Harry beamed at Hermione and then at Ron, the pair staring at him in confusion. Before Ron could get the word 'what' out of his mouth, the Champion had answered, the grin never slipping.

"He wants to see me…At twelve…"

"Harry that's past curfew –" Hermione started warningly but Ron leapt once again to his defence.

"Oh come on Hermione! It's not like they're going to do anything, they can't exactly see each other during the day…"

"Well…Alright but don't stay out too late, you know that you still have that essay to do for potions."

Harry nodded, still smiling, he was certain nothing could bring him down now, not even an essay from Snape.

"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on the table. "Open it Harry! Go on! Let's just see what's in it!"

"He's supposed to work it out on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the Tournament rules – "

"A little ray of rule breaking sunshine today aren't you?" Ron said with a roll of his eyes, making Hermione's cheek tinge red.

"I _was_ supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own, too," Harry whispered with a shrug and Hermione gave a guilty smile before nodding, glaring at Ron.

"Yeah go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed.

Lee passed Harry the egg and he dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around the circumference, and prised it open.

It was hollow and completely empty, and for a few seconds Harry stared confused into it, a few seconds only because suddenly the most ear-splitting shrieking wail filled the room. Harry dropped it to the floor and covered his ears, the nearest thing to it he'd ever heard had been the band at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party.

"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands likewise over his ears, Harry barely heard him over the noise. Before he could react though, Lee Jordan launched himself at the egg, which was lying on the floor, slamming it shut, making a sigh of relief pass over the room.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Seamus Finnigan asked, glaring at the egg that was now sitting in Harry's lap, looking rather innocent. "Sounded like a banshee…Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" Neville said in an urgent whisper, his face white. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

"Don't be a prat, Neville. That's illegal, they wouldn't use it on the Champions," George said with a dramatic roll of his eyes, leaving Dean and Seamus to calm the younger boy down. "I thought it sounded a bit like Percy's singing…Hey! Maybe you have to attack him in the shower…I know it's against the rules, but could we help?"

"Jam Tart, Hermione?" Fred offered, handing the bushy haired girl a tray.

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she eyed the plate suspiciously, "What have you done to it?"

"Oh it's alright; I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you have to watch – "

Neville, who had just taken a bite out of the custard cream, choked and spat it out, staring wild eyed at George who seemed to have given him one.

"Just my little joke, Neville," Fred laughed, winking at his twin.

Silently, Harry was glad that the attention was off of him and Hermione continued to question Fred and George about how they got into the Kitchens. Before their conversation began to involve other people, Harry glanced at his watch, ten to twelve, he couldn't believe that the evening had gone so quickly and the start of nervous butterflies began to flutter in his stomach. Making the excuse that he was tired and wanted to put the egg away, Harry slipped away upstairs, chuckling slightly as Neville turned into a large canary.

Slinging the egg into his trunk, Harry stood in front of the mirror, trying desperately to flatten his unruly hair. After a few seconds of preening, he sighed and accepted that he could do nothing with the rats-nest and hunted down his Invisibility Cloak. Lifting the light-weight material from its home, he threw it over his shoulders and snuck back down the stair case.

Getting through the Common Room undetected was more problematic than he'd thought. It was difficult to not brush anyone or stand on anyone's feet on his way and when he knocked over a plate of Cauldron Cakes he narrowly missed Colin Creevey who ran to right it. However, he eventually reached the Portrait hole, and there started another dilemma, how was he going to get out?

Making sure no one was looking, he picked up a paperweight and threw it as hard as he could, and aimed for the pile of Chocolate frogs piled on the study table. As the boxes scattered and frogs escaped, he made his own get away, slipping through the exit and shutting it quietly. The Fat Lady was, luckily, asleep and no one was there to see the door open of its own accord. Or so he had thought.

"Harry?" A soft voice whispered and Cedric appeared from the shadow of a suit of armour. "Is that you?"

"Yep," Harry muttered and his head popped out of the cloak, giving the impression that it was just his head floating in the air.

Cedric's eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled, reaching towards him and pressing his hand against the place he had guessed was Harry's shoulder. Harry grinned back at him and winked slightly, as the older boy in front of him removed his hand shaking his head.

"So **this** is how you get about without Filch finding you," he laughed, shaking his head, "Very sly, Potter."

Harry beamed at him, his eyes adjusting to the half light enough to see that Cedric still had that disgusting yellow goo on his face. He couldn't help it, with no warning; he burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, leaving Cedric to scowl at him playfully.

"What is it?" he asked in a mock irritated voice as Harry seemed to gain some control over his hysterics.

"T-The...**goo**…" the younger Champion wheezed, doubling over to wrap an arm around his stomach, gulping down as much air as he could before the laughter bubbled again at Cedric's tragic expression.

"Oh haha! Yes, let us all laugh at my misfortune!" Cedric hissed playfully and leapt at Harry, his hands extended to tickle the younger boy, but he was too fast and the raven head ducked under his arms. Scowling, he folded them across his chest and rolled his eyes, narrowing his eyes with a small smile at the now grinning Gryffindor.

"She just wouldn't listen; I said I had a big session of wooing to do tonight, but nooooo. I just **have** to wander around looking like a…I don't even know what I look like." Cedric said, flailing his arms dramatically.

"A bald Canary?" Harry interjected, smiling shyly at the older boy. "Er…Sexy?"

"Oh really, Potter? Is that what you think about this hideous gloop?" Cedric said and grinned at him, causing Harry's stomach to knot. The raven haired boy could do nothing but nod dumbly and Cedric's grin widened impossibly, predatorily, his eyes locked on Harry. "How about we head to a bathroom where I can wash this stuff off?"

Unsure that he'd be able to say anything with Cedric looking at him like he was something to eat, Harry merely nodded again and ducked his head under the cloak once again to hide his growing blush, also thankful for the invisibility of one particular part of his anatomy which seemed to react potently to the incredibly sexy huskiness that had entered Cedric's voice.

"Hmm…I can see you'd be unfairly advantaged at hide and seek," the bronze haired boy teased before he started walking, the off-beat rhythm of footsteps to his left assuring him that Harry was following. The Prefect stopped a few minutes after outside of the seventh floor bathroom, pushing the door open and holding it for his invisible companion. Harry slipped inside and tugged the cloak over his head as Cedric entered as well, locking the door before he strode to the sinks. He studied himself carefully for a moment before sending an incredulous look at Harry.

"Sexy?" he asked in disbelief.

Harry shrugged, "You'd make a sack look hot."

"Really?"

"Of course," Harry said, that adorable blush tinting his cheeks once again, and this time, he couldn't hide it.

Chuckling deep in his chest Cedric nodded his head in thanks before reaching out for the nearest tap.

Coming out of his daze, Harry realised exactly which tap Cedric was reaching for.

_Not good! Not good!_

"No! Not that one!" he hissed loudly, but it was too late. In a spontaneous burst of water the pair were soaked, Harry's hand still on Cedric's arm from when he had attempted to stop him. Leaping forward, his eyes clamped shut against the spray; Harry knocked the offending appendage from the metal and shut off the water flow, warily opening his eyes to evaluate the damage.

Flicking his now sodden hair out of his eyes, the Gryffindor Champion looked at the Hufflepuff who was staring down at the tap in confusion.

"What was tha – "

"Peeves pranked that tap ages ago," Harry explained with a sigh, letting go of the older boy's arm with a blush, trying to wring out his robes. Cedric on the other hand, was looking at his reflection before a slow smile appeared on his face.

"Well, at least the goo's gone," he said brightly, turning to a disgruntled, wet, Harry. The boy pouted at him and Cedric smiled a little wider before he carefully spun him round and pressed the Gryffindor against the sinks.

"What do you think? Any damage done? Do I look like a monster?" he asked lightly, brushing his lips against Harry's neck while his hands gripped the younger boy's hips.

"G-Good as new," Harry mumbled huskily, pressing a gentle kiss to Cedric's temple feeling the boy smile against his flesh.

The Hufflepuff pulled away and looked at Harry carefully before closing the distance between their lips. The kiss was gentle, barely there and it sparked a fire of need inside of Harry, a fire that he hadn't even known existed. Barely conscious that he was doing it, Harry rocked up onto the balls of his feet and pressed his mouth firmer against Cedric's.

This seemed to be the right thing to do as the older boy's arms moved, one to rest against the side of his face, the other to hold the sink. Curious, Harry tilted his head slightly, and with a soft rumble in his chest, Cedric held his chin a little tighter, moving his head into a more intimate position.

His head was swimming, pleasure shooting through his nerves at each new sensation; when Cedric pulled away he whined, when he felt his breath on his lips he parted them to inhale that gorgeous scent. But then something happened that he had not expected, something warm, wet and slightly rough traced his bottom lip and with a sigh Harry realised it was the other boy's tongue.

Acting instinctually, Harry let his own tentatively venture out to meet it and groaned in bliss at the feeling of his tongue slowly entwining with the Hufflepuff's. It was…Magic. It felt like his body was alive, throbbing in a way he couldn't understand and it seemed perfectly natural to press himself against the firm body in front of him, his hands fisting the shirt they found adorning his Adonis' chest. Cedric seemed to growl and one arm wrapped around his waist, pinning him to his chest, as his mouth claimed every inch of Harry's; tongue to tongue, lip to lip, chest to chest…hip to hip.

The Gryffindor rolled his hips experimentally moaning into the mouth clasped over his, enjoying the feeling of the older boy tensing and pushing him harder against the cold, hard porcelain behind him. Harry felt a pressure growing in his abdomen and knowing what it meant he started to panic. This was going too fast, too far. He didn't really know the real Cedric, he hadn't got to know him as well as he wanted. He wasn't comfortable with this. He wanted to...He wanted to **stop**.

And as if Cedric had read his mind he pulled away, looking at Harry with gentle eyes before smiling weakly. Pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead he backed away from the younger boy a few steps.

"Sorry…I got…Carried away," he admitted quietly, breathing heavily, his fingers gently stroking the soft skin that they rested on.

Harry couldn't help but blush at the gaze Cedric was giving him and shook his head.

"No, it was…amazing…I've never…"

"Kissed?" Cedric said helpfully.

"Yeah…" Harry said gently, looking down at the floor, his hands falling to his sides.

"It's nothing to be ashamed off, Harry. I'm glad. I'm rather selfish, I'm relieved I don't have to share you with someone else," Cedric whispered, averting his own eyes as he shared his guilty secret.

Harry smiled slightly and pressed a shy kiss to the Hufflepuff's cheek, the boy brightened considerably and he turned his head, breaking the spell that had befallen them. His hand was rummaging in his robes and after a few seconds he pulled out his wand, whispering something under his breath.

Harry felt his robes heat up and before he knew it he was no longer damp and dripping, instead he was dry and warm. Smiling he looked up at the older boy who seemed to be affected by his shyness and was looking away.

"I don't want you to catch a cold…You better get your cloak, I should get you back to the Portrait hole," Cedric said quietly and backed away from Harry to let him past.

Frowning slightly at the sudden change of mood, Harry scooped up the Invisibility cloak and swung it over his shoulder as the Hufflepuff unlocked and opened the door. As Cedric disappeared, Harry followed silently, watching his expression from the safety of his cover, however, the older boy seemed to be keeping his face in check and he could glean no idea of what he was thinking.

When they finally stopped in front of the Fat Lady, Harry let the cloak slip from his head and turned to Cedric. Lips were suddenly on his own in a chaste kiss and were gone before he could react. The owner of said lips smiled crookedly at him, a hand rising to gently trace his jaw line.

"Congratulations, Harry," Cedric whispered and let his head dip for another gentle kiss. "Good night."

"Night Cedric," Harry whispered back and whispered the password to a now grumpy, but awake, Fat Lady. Glancing back once more, he clambered through the doorway and disappeared from sight.

Staring at the spot the little raven-haired boy had disappeared, Cedric Diggory smiled slightly.

_Yes. Congratulations, Harry. I think you might have won more than your friend back today…I'm scared to admit it, but I think I may like you a little more than I should. _


	13. Chapter Ten

**Author's Note:** Hehehe…I bet you all still hate me. I know that my responses are slow and irregular, and I assure you it's not because I'm bored with this story, in fact I am determined to get to the end even if it kills me. I've just been busy, as I said last time it's exam period and I don't know if you'll get another update for about three weeks…Just to warn you this time. =3 I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The Lordly Lion

Harry heard nothing more from Cedric since their brief, and if Harry was honest the slightly frightening, encounter in the Seventh floor bathroom. The Hufflepuff had claimed to being busy when they'd 'accidentally' bumped into each other in the corridor one day, and with Cho once again beating the bronze-haired boy as they walked off, Harry was led to the same conclusion as he had been on the train, Cedric was avoiding him. In a way, Harry could understand, it hadn't been the most romantic first kiss and he had, in his opinion, cocked it up good and proper with the whole innocent school boy, first kiss and petrified personality. He couldn't blame Cedric for being put out and told him so one lunch.

"Don't be stupid, Potter," Cedric hissed scowling exasperatedly at Harry from across the classroom that the younger raven head had dragged him into.

"Then why are you avoiding me? If you don't want me any more I get it, but you could at least – " Harry started to retort only to be silenced by a chaste kiss as Cedric strode determinedly towards him.

Harry found his head delightfully lighten and closed his eyes slowly when Cedric's hand ran through his hair.

"Like I said, you're being stupid, Potter. I'm busy and you're not the only one with things to figure out," the Hufflepuff said cryptically before adjusting the strap on his bag. Now Harry thought about it, said bag looked a little scruffy and worse-for-wear.

_Must be old…_ he thought absently and it wasn't until Cedric chuckled slightly after following his gaze that he looked up.

"That reminds me. You owe me another bag you little minx," the older boy said playfully, winking as he strolled towards the door, then resting his hand against the wood he turned back. "Try not to beat yourself up or do anything else stupid, Harry. See you around."

That meeting had only solidified two facts in Harry's mind, one, that he was the luckiest boy in the world, and two, that he was probably going to have his heart broken, though he couldn't bring himself to care. It definitely wasn't that the Gryffindor Champion didn't want the relationship with Cedric, it was the feeling that things were going too far and that fate was dragging him unceremoniously towards the finish line. It made him feel…uneasy. He planned on going kicking and screaming if fate wanted him to go any quicker than he was willing to. Cedric had been understanding, if not slightly distant, and he couldn't help but worry that he had ruined any chances with the older boy, despite his reassurances. It was really something, since when did The-Boy-Who-Lived worry over fate?

Harry had to agree, usually, he and fate plodded along well together; sure he hadn't always been too happy with facing Voldemort all those times…Okay so he was being foolish and under-exaggerating, he had been terrified, but just like the good little saviour he was meant to be, he never complained. This time however, there was no way he was going to be rushed into a relationship just because fate wanted him to. Screw fate. Fate could go straight to hell for all he cared.

And it seemed fate had the same idea for him…

"Potter! Weasley! Will you _please_ pay attention!?"

Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked ominously through the class, sending the Guinea-Pigs they had turned the guinea-fowls into squeaking fearfully and retreating to the back of their cage. Neville's guinea-pig, which still had feathers due to his poor transfiguration skills, gave a strange strangled squawk like squeak and rustled it's feathery fur in disapproval, sending the class into a fit of giggles and heightening McGonagall's wrath.

Harry and Ron looked up from their sword fight, compliments of Fred and George's fake wands, wondering what they were interrupting. It was three minutes to the bell and they'd copied their homework from the board, Ron grumbling under his breath something along the lines of 'Hermione will help me later'.

"What does she want to talk to us about?" Ron hissed, hiding his tin parrot under the desk as Harry slipped his rubber haddock into his rucksack.

"Well now the pair of you have been kind enough to act your age, Weasley, I'll tell you," said Professor McGonagall with an angry look at the pair of them.

"Bloody hell. How does she do that?" Ron muttered, sinking into his seat as the woman's dagger gaze rested on him.

"Language, Weasley, I would prefer not taking house points from my house," McGonagall said quickly, "Now…The Yule Ball is approaching, to those of you who don't know it is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. The ball will be open to only fourth-years and above, although you may invite a younger student if you wish – "

McGonagall was forced to stop when Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle, and Pavarti Patil nudged her in the ribs, her face showing her own struggle not to follow suit. The pair turned to look at Harry, and with nothing but a stern look at them, McGonagall continued.

"Dress robes will be worn and the ball will start at eight o'clock Christmas Day, finishing at midnight, in the Great Hall. Now then – "

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for all of us to – ahem – let our hair down," she said in a disproving voice. "But, that does NOT mean that I will be relaxing the standards of behaviour that we expect from our students. I will be seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrassed the school in any way. Do you understand?"

A few mumbled responses from the girls and uncommitted grunts from the boys was the only answer as the school bell ring. There was the usual scuttle of activity as everyone picked up their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

"Oh yes! There will be dance classes in classroom 4B this evening, and as my house I will be expecting all of you to attend!" McGonagall shouted over the noise and nearly everyone fell silent and still. The girls looked excited and started whispering to themselves, the boys had a look of horror on their faces, and Harry heard Dean start whispering excuses and plans of falling down the Grand Staircase on the way to dinner to Seamus.

"D-D-Dance Classes?" Ron stuttered but no one answered as the group filed out of the room.

"Potter – A word, if you please."

Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock, Harry proceeded gloomily to her desk.

Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had left the room, and then said, "Potter, the Champions and their partners – "

"What partners," Harry interrupted with another look of horror at his Transfiguration teacher.

Professor McGonagall looked at him suspiciously, as if she suspected that he was trying to be funny.

"Your partner for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly, "Your _dance_ partner."

Harry felt his insides lurch unpleasantly; perhaps he needed to see Madame Pomfrey about his hearing. He must have something wrong with his ears because Professor McGonagall had just said something that sounded a lot like…

"Dance partners?" he muttered, gulping as he felt his face redden. "I don't dance," he added quickly.

"Oh yes you do," said McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. Traditionally the Champions and their _dance_ partners open the ball."

Harry had a sudden mental image of himself dancing in a top hat and tails with a girl wearing the sort of frilly dress that Aunt Petunia would always wear to Uncle Vernon's work parties. He was doing very well. Until he fell over his feet and landed on his face.

No way. There was no way in hell.

"I'm not dancing."

"It's traditional," Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts Champion, and you will do what is expected of you. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter. Oh, and I'll be expecting you at the class tonight, I won't have you making a mockery of his House."

"But – I don't – "

"You heard me, Potter. You're dancing even if I have to drag you there myself." McGonagall said in a final sort of way, leaving Harry with the image of him kicking a screaming in a top hat and tails being dragged onto the dance floor by a severe looking Professor McGonagall. She dumped him into some girls arms and proceeded to glare at him menacingly as he danced, smirking to herself when he fell flat on his face and dragging him back as he tried to crawl away.

_Absolutely no way I'm doing this. I'll break my leg…I'll fake my death…Anything…_

But somehow he found himself saying: "Yes ma'am," and looking down, he sulked from the room.

* * *

Harry was in hell. It seemed that fate had got to him first and he was not happy, however one good thing came from the dance class in question. It was tall, had bronze hair and answered to the name of Cedric, and it was a very good thing indeed.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall called over the loud buzz that filled the classroom. As it wasn't big enough, they had decided to split the school in half, Gryffindors with the Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins with the Ravenclaws. The division of Gryffindors and Slytherins had been a unanimous decision with the teachers; after all, if they were put in a room with each other to dance, half of the school population would end up in the Hospital Wing.

The students turned to McGonagall, who was standing in the middle of the room, glancing at a group of girls who were giggling loudly from their positions on the desks that had been pushed up against the wall. Harry looked around the assembled teenagers from his own point standing with the Wealsey Twins, almost directly across the room from him, and staring intently in his direction, was Cedric Diggory. Harry was thankful that his teacher had called their attention when she did.

"The houses of Godric Gryffindor…and Helga Hufflepuff have commanded the respect of the wizarding world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single night besmirch that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of Baboons."

Harry looked at Fred who had leant over to his twin with a grin on his face. "Hey George, try saying it five times faster," he whispered and the raven haired boy couldn't help but laugh softly as the pair burst into fast muttering. The two boys looked at him before tackling him into a one armed hug of sorts while ruffling his already ruffled hair. He could practically feel the heat of the Hufflepuff's stare on his neck when the pair released him and when he looked over, there was nothing but anger etched onto that perfect face, the glare targeted on Fred and George who were now jabbing Ron hard in the back with their index fingers.

That look on Cedric's face looked decidedly…jealous? No…He was being stupid. Cedric had nothing to be jealous about. But then Harry remembered what the older boy had said in the bathroom the other night.

_I'm glad. I'm rather selfish; I'm relieved I don't have to share you with someone else._

Smiling smugly, Harry turned back to his teacher who had been speaking about the technicalities of dancing. Crap…He probably should have been listening to that instead of thinking about his…What exactly _was_ Cedric? He wasn't his boyfriend, but Harry felt that the older boy had claimed him in some way. Close friend? Nope…Close friend who he liked to kiss and have the other ravage him. Yep, that was about right.

"Now, to dance is to let the body breathe," Professor McGonagall continued, "Inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight."

"Something's about to burst out of Hannah Abbot, but I don't think it's a swan…" Ron sniggered, earning a few choice glares from the Hufflepuffs and poor Hannah looking like she was about to cry. Making sure that McGonagall wasn't looking, Harry cuffed his friend round the head, smiling apologetically at the tearful girl. The blonde gave him a watery smile and Harry ignored Ron's angry hisses.

"Inside every boy, a lordly lion or honourable badger is prepared to prance," McGonagall said, glaring at Ron. "Mr Weasley, will you join me?"

Not waiting for an answer, she swept down on Ron like a falcon and pulled him to his feet, pulling a few mocking laughs from the Hufflepuffs, and Harry had to join them. Ron shot a 'just-you-wait' look in his direction as McGonagall gestured to his side.

"Now, place your hand on my waist."

"Where?!" Ron asked with a look between bewilderment and horror.

"My waist," she said impatiently and took his hand, resting it on her hip ignoring the wolf whistle sent their way by his mischievous brothers.

"Now bend your arm like so…Mr Filch?"

The music started as the old caretaker wound the handle of the old Gramophone. McGonagall started counting and led Ron through the steps, twisting them elegantly, if it wasn't for Ron's muttered curses and stumbling steps it would have been a wonderful dance routine. Grinning Harry leant back against the wall and turned towards the equally gleeful twins.

"You're never gonna let him forget this, are you?"

"Never," the pair chorused and turned back to the dancing couple.

"Everyone come together," McGonagall commanded, and the girls instantly walked forward, smiling and giggling at each other.

Cedric and Neville were the first boys to the move and feeling that he should make up for Ron's rude comment, Harry strode across the room to Hannah, trying to exude as much confidence as possible as he smiled and held out his hand in a way he'd seen the men do it in old movies. Apparently the girls thought it was very romantic because the entire room was watching, Harry forced himself not to go red and the girl smiled with a blush of her own, nodded her head in thanks and took the extended appendage.

Cedric in turn walked towards Hermione, offering his hand much like Harry had, glancing towards the raven haired boy who was already struggling with the steps. Smiling fondly he turned his attention to a very knowing look from Hermione and found himself blushing. How much did this girl know? She quirked a eyebrow and he quickly placed his hand on her waist spinning her expertly round the room before she could blink.

As the couples finally met, Ron glared at Hermione and Cedric at every opportunity he could get from over McGonagall's shoulder, his only enjoyment watching Harry repeatedly fall over while Hannah Abbot tugged him to his feet.

* * *

"That was horrible," Harry moaned to Hermione, raising his hand in goodbye as Hannah waved to him as she walked down the corridor with her friends. "Absolute torture."

"Well I thought it was fun," Hermione said brightly, looking over at Ron who was being spoken to by an animated Professor McGonagall, apparently she wanted him to be dancing properly by the time the Ball took place and expected him to practice.

"You would," the Gryffindor Champion griped, folding his arms and scowling. Hermione was looking over his shoulder with that knowing look once again and a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"What?" he snapped, but froze mid glare when a hand touched his shoulder.

"I think I'll go save Ronald," Hermione said with a stern, but motherly, yes, motherly, warning glance at the person behind Harry before turning to the increasingly reddening boy trying to escape McGonagall's clutches. "See you later Harry!"

He didn't get a chance to say bye before he was pulled round a corner and pressed against a wall. Harry barely saw the tousled bronze hair and gorgeous face before his lips were being attacked by Cedric's. The kiss was more urgent than the other few they had shared, and the way Harry was boxed against the stone was possessive. Perhaps he had been right in thinking that Cedric had been jealous of the twin's easy behaviour with him. As the older boy tilted Harry's head back into a submissive position, he couldn't help but moan his approval as his own hands moved to his shirt and hair.

Having laid claim to the now flushed raven haired boy in front of him, Cedric stepped back, or stepped back as far as Harry's clutching hands would allow him to. The younger Champion was smiling with a dazed expression and the Hufflepuff couldn't help but chuckle at how…adorable he looked.

"Well hello to you too," Harry said gently, his smile widening. "What? I don't see you for days and you don't even have the chance to say hello?"

"Kiss first ask questions later," Cedric replied, nuzzling Harry's neck affectionately as the boy relinquished his hold, "that's my motto."

"Well you're very good at it…Now why have I been honoured with your presence, oh mighty busy one?" Harry teased and gave a muffled moan as his lips were one again engaged in one of Cedric's reprimanding kisses.

"Don't be cheeky, you. I have been busy. But I also saw you beating yourself black and blue in that onerous and pointless class…Seriously Harry I was amazed at your inability to stay upright, I thought you were down for good at one point…" Cedric teased back, nipping the smaller male's chin.

Having heard the double meaning in Cedric's words, Harry blushed lightly and took advantage of the slip up with the hope that he could make the older boy blush as well.

"Perhaps all I need is the right person to keep me…_upright_."

Much to his delight, Cedric did blush, but the boy was far more experienced than Harry was and expertly turned the tables on him. Grinning, the Hufflepuff Champion pressed his hips to Harry's, rolling sensuously before placing his lips to the boy's ear.

"Oh?" he purred, "I'd be glad to be of…_assistance_…"

Harry moaned softly, closing his eyes at the delicious sensations, gently biting Cedric's ear. The reaction he was given was unexpected but by no means unwanted, the bronze haired boy gave a shuddering gasp and jerked his hips a little harder into Harry's which in turn earned another soft moan.

"Hermione I really don't need to see it! Hearing its bad enough, can't we just leave them?"

"No! If he's caught out of curfew he'll be in big trouble."

Harry whined slightly and opened his eyes as Cedric pulled away quickly, silently cursing his friends for ruining a perfectly good moment. Straightening his clothes, he tried willing the, no doubt unsightly bulge that was making its presence painfully known, away but to no avail. Thanking the wizards that decided robes were fashionable, he sighed.

"You can come round guys, we're not doing anything," Harry called and Hermione and Ron's head peered round the corner. Ron scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets, skulking into view.

"But you were."

"Not any more…" Harry muttered, his embarrassment dealing with the problem in no time, and his face reddened to a humiliated blush instead of an impassioned one.

"Ron just walked in on you, he'll be fine," Hermione said tactfully and smiled slightly. "We just thought we'd come and get you so you're not late…"

Cedric seemed to gain some semblance of control and smiled back before turning to Harry.

"Like I was saying Harry, maybe I could give you dance lessons. That way you're not going to have to borrow Cho's make-up to cover up those bruises at the Ball."

Harry nodded, "I'd like that, Cedric, thanks."

"Alright then…You should get going. Night, Harry," the Hufflepuff said quietly, kissing Harry's cheek out of respect for his friends and nodding to the pair of Gryffindors, he started walking down the corridor.

Hermione was the first to break the silence and took both boys by the hand and started dragging them up the staircase, Cedric having left Harry to stare after him with a dazed look on his face and Ron to stare after him with a look of horror and intrigue. When both of them came out of their reverie, they tore their hands from Hermione's and Ron cleared his throat in an embarrassed sort of way.

"So…Dance lessons?" he said curiously.

"Yup," Harry replied, eying his friend carefully at the look on his face.

"Is that what everyone is calling it now?"

"RON!" Hermione shrieked, slapping the red-head on the arm.

Harry blushed slightly but looked straight at his friend with a smirk on his face. He might as well play this out a bit.

"Yeah it is, actually," he said and left the pair to gawp after him as he scaled the stairs.


	14. Chapter Eleven

**Author's Note:** Oooppies…Sorry this took so long, and if you're still interested in this story it's a miracle. I need to be kicked, but it being so close to exam week…Eeek it's NEXT WEEK! On Wednesday and Thrusday! I've been a little side-tracked, sorry, however, fortunately for you, I needed an outlet for stress, and this is it! I'm finally taking on two comments, the first you'll see and the second, now I've got Harry and Cedric's relationship established, is working on other people. So I give you a few pieces of Ron and Hermione and everyone's favourite pairings, Harry and Cedric, with a dashing if our favourite twins. Enjoy. =3

The Point Of No Return

"I don't know why you place it on yourself to talk to him so…in detail about it," Ron moaned quietly in the Common Room glancing over at Harry who was passed-out on one of the study desks. The red-head couldn't find it in himself to wake the other boy up, mostly because Harry's cheek was resting on the parchment he'd been writing on…And the ink hadn't dried. He chuckled darkly and Hermione scowled looking at Harry as well for the reason. The dark-haired boy had been out until curfew talking to Cedric, mostly about what they liked and didn't like, playing a strange, but innocent, game of question and answer that had morphed, not so innocently, into a game of truth of dare. Said game had resulted in Harry pinned to his back being thoroughly tickled and kissed.

He'd walked into the Gryffindor Common Room with a goofy smile to his friends, his hair ruffled before he staggered to the corner of the room to finish off McGonagall's homework that was due in the next day. It hadn't taken him long to start yawning and eventually fall on his semi-dry ink.

"Ron! He's our friend…I might not feel comfortable about it but he needs our support," the bushy haired girl hissed, hitting Ron's arm gently, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't wake her friend up.

"Yeah, yeah I know but…It's when he comes in with that stupid smile on his face and you ask him what he's been up to. It's blatantly obvious he doesn't want to talk about it and you practically drag it out of him."

"Well who else is going to make sure he's being safe?" Hermione snapped, pointing at Harry in an aggressive way before shutting her book with a dull thud. Ron looked to Harry to see if he'd woken but it seemed the boy was completely out of it.

"I don't see you running to find out that Cedric's not pushing him into anything!"

"Oh for crying out loud, 'Mione! He's not an idiot! He wouldn't rush into anything without thinking it out first," Ron snapped, looking round to check that they were in fact the only people in the Common Room as his voice got louder and louder.

"How do you know!? Cedric is _seventeen_, Ron! Why else would he want anything to do with Harry if not for that?!" Hermione murmured venomously.

"He's a Hufflepuff, Hermione, they're all into that loyalty and friendship stuff, just like we are…Or we're **meant** to be. Just lay off him a little! If he wants to talk he will!" Ron growled, standing up his fists clenched, looming over the brunette across the coffee table.

"I'm just saying, Ron. Most teenagers our age don't even look at Harry like that! Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Cedric starts getting friendly with Harry when he was entered in the tournament? Don't you think it's a bit strange how no one other than Ginny has shown a dot of interest in him romantically? Now all of a sudden out of the blue this seventeen year old, who he doesn't even know that well pops up to sweep him off of his feet?!"

Ron frowned and shook his head, "Harry deserves to be happy, Hermione…"

"I know! But no offense, Ron but boys your age…Boys like…like Cedric are only after one thing…"

"What? Like screwing my arse?"

The bickering pair stopped dead in their tracks, Hermione turning horrified to look at the spot Harry had been sleeping. Raven hair tousled, Harry had leant the chair back as if subconsciously trying to get away from his friends. The fact that he had 'Guinea-Pig' and 'Guinea-Fowl' written on the side of his cheek would have been comical, if he wasn't glaring at Hermione as if she were a life-form more unpleasant than the Giant-Squid.

"Harry…" she whispered.

"You know what; you really didn't look like you thought he was only after one thing when he asked you to dance in that class. In fact you'd looked like you were about to faint! What? Upset that he likes me instead of you? Like Ron said don't you think I deserve to be happy? Or is it simply that I don't **deserve** him?"

Hermione shot a glare at Ron even though the red-head had done nothing wrong.

"Please Harry, it's not that. You do deserve him, it's just –"

"What, Hermione?! What more could you possibly have to say? That Cedric's only with me for the sex? That he's with me to steal ideas for the Tournament? What next?! He's secretly in league with Voldemort" – the pair flinched visibly at the name – "and he's trying to kill me?"

"Harry…You shouldn't even joke about that…" Hermione whispered meekly, her hands over her mouth and tears building in her eyes. "I didn't mean it like that I swear!"

Harry snorted and shook his head, turning to gather his belongings. Ron seemed to have decided on a course of action and placed himself between the pair.

"Look guys…Let's just calm down a moment. We've all said some things that we wish we hadn't…So why don't we just apologise?"

Harry turned to face Ron with a look of horror on his face. He knew things were bad and seriously messed up when Ronald Weasley, the king of fiery arguments and heated comments, was trying to keep the peace. Seriously wrong…And…Damn it Harry couldn't think! He was just so…Angry!

"Forget it. Ron why don't you try and talk some sense into **your** fucking girlfriend! 'Cause right now I'm sick of her!" Harry all but shouted and stormed up the stairs, leaving a trail of blank parchment in his wake.

Ron and Hermione stared at the boy's staircase for a moment before turning to face each other. The red-head watched as his friend dissolved into tears and sunk into the sofa, sobbing quietly into her hands. In an un-characteristically sentimental moment, Ron sat next to her and wrapped her in his arms, rocking her gently as she cried into his chest.

Eventually Hermione's hiccupping sobs stopped and the pair fell into a comfortable silence, her head still resting on Ron's chest. Shifting awkwardly the boy felt that he had to say something and grinning slightly he looked down at her.

"So…Girlfriend huh? Ooof!" the red-head exclaimed a moment later as Hermione's hand came into contact with his stomach. She pushed away from him and got to her feet, frowning at him, scrubbing away the tear marks with her hand.

"No Ronald, not girlfriend! I would rather kiss Snape!" She hissed and stormed up the steps to the girls dormitory.

Ron blinked once…Then twice…Before shaking his head, reprimanding himself for being so damn tactless.

"I'll never understand her…"

* * *

"Hiya, Harry," George Weasley said brightly, walking towards the lonely looking teen that had sat at the end of the Gryffindor table on his own. Harry looked up and managed a half smile, glancing over to the Hufflepuff table to see that Cedric was once again looking at him, a small frown pulling at his forehead. No doubt he was wondering why he was sitting on his own, and he part hoped that it was taking a lot of restraint to stop him from coming over to see him.

"Mind if I sit down?" the red-head asked quietly, not waiting for Harry's answer before he sat in front of him.

The raven-haired boy smiled ruefully, gesturing around him, "So…What brings you all the way down here, George…It is George right?"

The Wealsey twin chuckled and nodded, reaching over to grab a croissant from one of the central plates, "Yeah, it's George, you can always tell, Fred would get randomly offended and say that he was the attractive one, I don't really mind. It's just a laugh to see boys come onto my brother…Ron told me about last night. He's pretty worried about you but he's trying to calm Hermione down and convince her to apologise."

"Ah yes, ever the diplomat our Ron," Harry sighed, just about to start a tirade of abuse at how Hermione would reprimand Ron for his lack of tact when she had none herself until the full force of what George had said hit home. _'It's just a laugh to see boys come onto my brother.'_ Wait a minute… "You're gay?"

"Bi actually…But I lean more towards guys than girls. Some of them are just too whiny and it's nice to not be the one who's in charge of a relationship the whole time…Me and Lee have been going out for a while now actually."

"Lee? Lee Jordan?"

"Well how many other Lee's do you know, Harry?" George asked with an amused smile as he spread a thick layer of jam on the flaky pastry he had in his hand.

Harry sat there for a moment trying to get his head round the context of George liking guys…Going out with a guy. George Wealsey, one of the twins who would ruffle his hair, jump him, taught him the mysterious ways of mischief. The two people other than Ron that he considered brothers…And now one of them was actually having a conversation with him about his sexual orientation. He could feel a lump forming in his throat; George could have no idea what this would mean to him…Could he?

"Why are you-?"

"Telling you this? 'Cause it's confusing, you don't know what way is up, everything is changing, you're having feelings about people that you've been bought up not to like…but you're lucky, you have someone that's willing to experiment with you." George took a large bite out of his croissant, smiling when he saw Harry's astonished expression. Quickly swallowing he reached over to ruffle the younger boy's already tousled hair.

"Quit gawping at me, your boyfriend's gonna thing I just asked you to meet me in the broom cupboard."

"Are you?" Harry asked good naturedly, swatting the red-head hand away.

"As much as I'd love to; no. We both have commitments Harry. I'm sorry but it'll just never work," George said with a wink and to his shock, Harry found himself blushing.

"Is Fred gay?"

"Nah, fully straight that guy…Which is why it's such a laugh when guys that don't know me that well come onto him instead of me…He's a good sport though. Freaked him out when he first found out me and Lee were experimenting…But he's got used to it. I came out last year."

Harry frowned slightly and tilted his head, "You came out? To who?"

"The school…I told Mum and Dad the year before last that I had a preference to guys. She was surprisingly open about it. Apparently a lot of major witches and wizards have been gay. There's even a rumour that Dumbledore is."

George made a face, sticking his tongue out between his teeth as he scrunched up his face. Harry could feel his ears redden, that is not something that he needed to know. It didn't help the fact that at that point Dumbledore looked over at them and raised his goblet to the pair. Not wanting to be rude, he nodded to the old man, George mock saluted.

"I think he heard…Batty…Completely batty," the red-head muttered, shaking his head.

"But I still don't get it…Why are you telling me all of this? What is this? Some gay's stick together regime?"

George smiled and sighed slightly before he hummed in thought, folding his arms and stared up at the enchanted ceiling.

"What I'm trying to say, Harry, is that I would have done anything to have a big brother there for me, to tell me that I wasn't a complete freak. I had to find everything out on my own, and I would never wish any of the insecurity that it caused on anyone…Well…Perhaps a Slytherin. If you ever want anyone to talk to about any aspect of it or just anything in general, I'm here. Ok? Think of me as the wayward leading big brother who you can talk to about sex."

"Does Ron know your…You know going out with Lee?" Harry asked quietly, glancing over to his friends who seemed to be bickering again, the youngest Weasley boy's ears getting redder and redder by the second.

"Yeah." George said flatly, reaching over to put some bacon on his plate.

"Then why did he react the way he did?!" Harry snapped indignantly, how dare Ron get offensive with him about being gay! Not when he knew that George was.

"I hauled him over the coals for that, don't you worry, he'll never call anyone a fag again, that I can promise you," George said darkly but his expression lightened just as quickly as it had darkened. "Most of what he said to Hermione last night was what I said to him."

"So…"

"He didn't know until I found out what he'd called you. I think…I think he's worried that it's catching…You know Dean's gay right?" George asked, shovelling half of the bacon on his plate into his mouth.

"He…He is? Is there a little community that I don't know about?!"

"Something like that," the red-head chuckled and looked over to where Ron was standing and walking towards them. Taking this as his time to leave, George leant over to pat Harry gently on the shoulder before he winked and jogged down the hall to catch up with Lee, who was leaning on the wall by the doors.

The Wealsey grinned and muttered something to the other boy, who looked over at him and waved before the pair turned to leave, walking closer than two boys usually would. How could he have missed it? The way Lee and George were always together, the way that when they walked their hands would brush together. How far had George gone? And did he mean that he could really talk to him about anything he was worried about?

Grinning, Harry greeted Ron who slouched onto the bench and rested his heads in his hands. The weight lifted from his shoulders, Harry reached to grab a slice of toast.

"What? Did Hermione kick you off the table for your lack of table manners?" he mocked, smiling slightly as he took a bite out of it.

"Bog off, Harry," Ron mumbled no malice in his voice. "I've managed to get her to see that what she said was pretty out of order, but she doesn't want to apologise first…"

Surprisingly, Harry's spirits didn't dampen at all and he shrugged, "Why am I not surprised? And she hates it when we fight."

"I know!" Ron said loudly, "She's such a hypocrite! George spoke to you then?"

"Yep, and I feel a lot better for it too…Thanks for getting him to talk to me, Ron."

"Nah, no problem. He was planning on talking to you at some point anyway, that fact that I told him that you were pretty upset about last night just decided the when's for him," Ron said before resting his head on his arms, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'Sleep' under his breath.

"Well, don't get too comfortable, we have McGonagall first."

Harry chuckled at the soft groan that accompanied his words and reached for another slice of toast. He had the feeling that this was going to be a good day.

* * *

_Did I think that it was going to be a good day…I was so wrong…_ Harry thought as he traipsed up the steps to the castle, dripping head to toe with mud and rain. Hagrid has asked him to come over for a cup of tea after he finished his classes, Hermione still wasn't talking to him and Ron had been given a ton of homework from Professor Flitwick because he still hadn't mastered the summoning charm.

So Harry had walked down to the cabin at the edge of the forest on his own only to find that 'Come an' 'ave a cupa tea, 'Arry' had actually meant: I need help with the Skwerts and if I ask you straight out you'll find an excuse not to come. So, unable to turn down the large man, Harry had spent two hours helping Hagrid re-home the horrid creatures.

"I jus' don' understand it," Hagrid had mused, scratching his beard and looking at the singed box.

Harry hadn't the heart to tell him that they weren't exactly the gentlest of magical creatures and donned his Dragon-Hide gloves like a man walking to his doom. Now, after being dragged through the mud, rained on, burnt and having missed dinner Harry started the long trudge back to the Gryffindor Common Room where he could lick his wounds in peace.

He was halfway up the Great Staircase when…

"Harry!"

The raven-haired boy felt a lurch in his stomach at the familiar voice of the Hufflepuff he'd come to know so well and he quickly turned to face Cedric Diggory, though every fibre of his being was telling him to run so the boy wouldn't see him like this. Cedric jogged up the steps to him and smiled worriedly.

"Sorry I haven't had a chance to talk to you, you were sitting on your own this morning. Are you alright? Have you had another argument with Ron? I saw George with you this morning wha – "

Harry grinned and put a finger to Cedric's lips shaking his head fondly. "I can't answer all those questions at once. I had an argument with Hermione last night. Nothing big…And George has a boyfriend…No competition; he just wanted to tell me that I could talk to him if I was worried…" Harry mumbled biting his lip when Cedric nibbled the tip of his finger lightly with that devious grin on his face.

"But how did you get so muddy? You'll excuse me for not hugging you like this?" Cedric asked then paused, talking Harry's hand in his own before tugging the younger boy up the steps.

"Hagrid wanted me to help him box up those Blast-ended Skwerts, but he said that is was for a cup of tea…Then it started to rain and one of them decided to drag me through the mud and Hagrid didn't know what to do and then…And then…Cedric?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Where are we going?"

"To get you cleaned up. You're gonna catch a cold if you don't get out of those clothes," Cedric answered and dragged him down another corridor before stopping in front of a door near the statue of Boris the Bewildered. Harry stared at his boyfriend who was grinning like the cat that got the cream.

"It's a door…"

"Yeah, but it's what's behind the door you'll like."

"You gonna open it then, Mr Prefect?" Harry groused, flicking his hair out of his eyes.

"Impatient aren't we?" Cedric asked with a roll of his eyes before he leant into the door, "_Pine Fresh_."

"Well I am freezing to death here," Harry grumbled letting Cedric drag him into the cavernous room. It was then Harry saw that he was in a bathroom, a very nice bathroom…There was a large bath embedded in the floor the size of a small swimming pool and there were taps running around the circumference. There was even a diving board. Gawping at his boyfriend, Harry smiled slightly as the Hufflepuff walked over to turn on three of the closest taps.

"Did I mention how much I love you right now," Harry teased as he peeled off his cold, soggy robes. Cedric was walking towards him again, following suit, and that in itself made Harry stop moving. Why was Cedric getting undressed as well?

"Need some company?" the older boy asked when he noticed Harry's gaze, smiling reassuringly.

"I…Er…Sure." Harry looked down as he unbuttoned his shirt trying to hide his blush. It was fine, just like going swimming when his aunt and uncle had been forced to take him to the swimming pool on Dudley's eighth birthday. But when he looked up to see that Cedric was already in his boxers and walking to turn off the taps, he found he couldn't look away from his toned back and legs.

Swallowing thickly Harry self-consciously shrugged out of his shirt dropping it to the floor before he found himself unable to move from his spot of staring. Cedric had turned back and was grinning crookedly at him.

"What you staring at?" he asked before glancing down at Harry's trousers. "You might want to take those off as well…I won't maul you…Much…At least, not unless you want me to."

Harry felt his face get hotter at the almost feral grin on the other boy's face and looking down at the floor he quickly shimmied out of the damp fabric. Folding his arms across his chest defensively he placed his glasses on a shelf and walked towards the edge of the bath. His tense muscles relaxed slightly when Cedric's arms gently wrapped round him and he turned his head into the warm chest next to him, shivering slightly.

"Come on, you're freezing, into the bath," the Hufflepuff chuckled and let go of the younger boy before placing his hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing him unceremoniously into the water. Though much to his surprise Harry grabbed his arm as he fell and with two simultaneous yelps, the pair landed in the bath with a large splash.

"Why you little!" Cedric gasped as he resurfaced a few seconds later, but he coughed and spluttered when he was attacked by a spray of water that Harry had hit towards him. As the Hufflepuff wiped the water and suds out of his eyes, he looked at the other boy who gave him and shy, cheeky grin before he tried to run.

Having the advantage however, Cedric placed his feet on the side and kicked off, wrapping his arms round Harry's waist and lifted him out of the water. The raven-head gave a shriek of laughter and started to squirm, grinning up at the smaller frame he had balanced above his head, the Hufflepuff dipped his arms, causing Harry to squirm harder.

"I hope you're ready for this, Potter," Cedric teased and dipped his arms again, then with no pity he dropped the struggling boy into the water, swimming backwards as Harry appeared, shaking the water out of his hair and pouting in his direction.

Much to Cedric's surprise Harry leapt at him and managed to wrap his arms round Cedric's waist letting himself get dragged along by the older boy's powerful strokes.

"Fancy seeing you here," Harry chuckled, resting his chin on Cedric's stomach, "Or not seeing you…You're just a pretty blur at the moment."

"Well as long as I'm pretty I really don't mind," Cedric said with a crooked grin, continuing his gentle push through the water until his back finally hit the wall. "Feeling better?"

"Well I'm not sure. I'm on my own, half naked in a very nice bath with my…half naked very hot boyfriend…I think I'm better," Harry said with a grin gently rubbing his nose against Cedric's as he placed his feet on the bottom or the bath. His lips were quickly covered by the older boys and quicker than he could blink he had been pinned to the edge.

Cedric was in Heaven, or at least, as close as he could get to Heaven. Harry was intoxicating feeling of Harry's wet body moving against his own was even more enthralling than he'd imagined, and though he had promised himself, sworn that he wouldn't do anything, he couldn't help himself. He **needed** to hear the raven-haired boy moan his name.

Pressing his hips to Harry's Cedric bit the boy's lower lip gently, his hands moving to caress his chest. The reaction to this was immediate and with a soft half whimper, Harry's eyes fluttered shut, much to the Hufflepuff's pleasure. He ghosted his lips down the Gryffindor's neck, nipping lightly as he kissed the flesh with hardly any pressure and the way Harry's breath hitched when he finally sucked the porcelain column was overwhelming. He couldn't stop his hands running across Harry's chest only to pause at both slightly raised nubs and brush his thumbs across them.

Harry arched his back suddenly at the combined feeling of his neck being bitten and sucked with his boyfriend's fingers working on his overly sensitive nipples. Panting slightly he raised his hands to gently entwine in Cedric's hair, tugging on the silken strands, silently begging for him to kiss him. He bit his lip when the boy merely pinched both of the reddening buds and rolled them gently between his fingers.

"Argh! Cedric…S-Stop…" Harry whined softly, but when the older boy chuckled and dipped his head to flick his tongue out across the abused flesh where his fingers had previously been, his words changed.

"Oh Merlin…Shit Cedric…Don't…Don't stop."

Cedric chuckled and his free hand ran slowly down Harry's stomach to finger his boxers. Pulling his mouth from his chest, he looked up, "I'm confused Harry. Do you want me to stop…Or not?"

To punctuate his sentence, the Prefect let his hand slip past the unwanted barrier and gently brush across Harry's growing erection. The younger boy moaned loudly, his grip tightening in Cedric's hair and the irresistible, overpowering feeling of control made him wrap his fingers gently round Harry and drag his hand back up.

"Oh…my…GOD!" Harry groaned, the words separated by his pants of pleasure as he attempted to speak, but Cedric pressed his lips to his to silence him. He tilted his head back, breaking the kiss as he pushed his hips desperately towards the Hufflepuff's hand.

Cedric could feel his resolve to take things slowly with Harry breaking and to his surprise he found his free hand tugging the younger boy's boxers down as the other continued to teasingly brush across the swollen flesh between his fingers. He quickly shimmied out of his own sodden boxers and pressed himself against the smaller body, his lips seeking Harry's to kiss him with a bruising force. Then, he moved his hand from Harry's cock and pressed his hips up to the boys, rolling gently.

Harry couldn't help the shocked cry that was torn from his lips at the movement and his hands moved to grip Cedric's shoulders. Shuddering from the sheer force of the sensations rocking through his body, the Gryffindor moaned, instinct driving him to rock his hips wantonly back into the older boy's thrusts.

Groaning with an almost animalistic tone, Cedric moved his mouth to Harry's neck, biting forcefully on the flesh, relishing in the subsequent cry of pleasure. Grinding his own need into Harry's he sucked on the darkening mark, claiming the younger boy as his. And Harry **was** his.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he could tell from Harry's jerky thrusts back and his increasingly louder moans that he was close to the edge, and Cedric was right there with him. Placing his hands either side of Harry of the edge of the bath for support, he moved his hips faster and harder, moaning loudly at the sparks of pleasure that shot up his back.

And then Harry practically screamed with pleasure, and it was entirely over.

The pair saw stars, arched their backs, and moaned each other's names, hoarse from the exertion. Cedric rested his forehead against Harry's, and the younger boy panted desperately trying to gain his breath back. For a few heartbeats they didn't move, and they didn't speak, both too shocked by what they had just done to intrude on the silence.

It was then Harry realised just how attached he was becoming. Part of him didn't like it, and then there was the half that yearned for the comfort that Cedric had to offer.

Neither understood yet. And they probably never would. They both stood at the edge of a cliff looking down, not knowing that if one fell then the other would inevitably follow. And there was no going back.

They were at the point of no return.


	15. Chapter Twelve

**Author's Note:** I'm tired, dead and it's so late right now, but it's finally up! It's un-Betaed and I think there are a few bad little typos in there, but I just wanted to get it out to you all! Because you're amazing! And I am so sleep deprived that I'm speaking jibberish!

You all have the right to attack me with whatever blunt objects you see fit. Right, it took me a good kick up the backside to get this up and for that I apologise. I blame school, I'm in my final year before Uni and the work load is immense and I've just started Saturday school with the Royal Academy of Music, which I am enjoying so much but also takes up a lot of my time! I also work most nights and school rehearsals for the play this year have just started and the woman is being a hag and demanding all of my lunchtimes and most afterschool so when I'm not at work I'm at school and when I'm at home I'm sleeping, eating and doing homework… And…Well I can't really think of anything else right now, but there must be more…=/ Excuses, excuses, excuses…Either way, it took a look at my review numbers to kick me into gear, 107! Wow…I'm seriously happy with that result. I've never had such love for a piece of writing before…And I shower equal love and attention on you all since it is your love that gives me love and stops me from moping…Maybe I'll write a little thank you chapter on Lee and George's relationship? =) Well I hope you enjoy Harry's desperate attempts at dancing, oh and if my timeline doesn't match the one in the book, don't shoot me it's just different. =) Enjoy!

**Inspiration:**

Smack Into You – Jon McLaughlin (My God! Check him out of Youtube he's amazing, and he sung the song before Beyonce. ^.^)

* * *

**Hickeys and Bruises**

Harry was still, unsurprisingly, not talking to Hermione. She had refused to apologise for expressing her concern and held steadfast to her belief that it was Harry who had been out of line not her. The only good thing was that he didn't see that much of her…Actually it was suspicious how little of her he saw. Ron, being the unobservant person that he was, didn't see anything wrong with it, in fact he was more worried about who he was going to take to the ball and had seriously ruined his chances the other day when he had mindlessly said 'Hey, Hermione, you're a girl.'. It was like the red-head had had an epiphany, one that had resulted with their ill-tempered friend swatting Ron over the head with a book and proclaiming that she already had someone to go with.

The ball.

That was something that Harry hadn't even considered, well he had, and both Ron and he had agreed that by the end of the day they would have partners for the dance…And it wasn't like he could take Cedric, and after all, neither had come out to anyone but their friends. He was quite sure only Cho and George knew about Cedric and he was almost certain that the term dance partner would only apply to girl/boy couples. Anyway, he wouldn't ask it of the Prefect, the last thing he wanted to do was force the boy to go public…

He had been meaning to think about the problem for sometime but every time he did he was sidetracked by Cedric; his boyfriend…His annoyingly absent boyfriend. He hadn't seen the Hufflepuff since the incident in the Prefect's Bathroom, the one that had resulted in them both panting for breath and very, **very** naked. Cedric had been horrified with himself when he realised that he had, quote, 'violated' him and had promptly apologised then without even waiting for a response he fled the room.

That had been a week ago, and despite Cedric's assumption that Harry would be angry at the 'violation of his space and innocence', the younger teen had enjoyed himself profusely. It had opened up a new arena in which they could develop their relationship, something he had thought would take months to develop, and he was pleased to find that he was, as many people seemed to worry about, ready to start a…What was the term Aunt Pertunia had used when talking to Dudley about the 'birds and the bees'? Oh yes an…'Intimate' bond with the Prefect. However he hadn't had a chance to tell him of his revelation because the boy had been avoiding him like the plague and Harry had to admit that he was sick of this disappearing tactic.

He was sick and tired of Cedric trying something new and then hiding when he'd done it. It made him feel like he regretted doing it, like every time Cedric finally came to talk to him he would say he wanted to break it off. Harry understood that this was as new to the Hufflepuff as it was to him, but for Merlin's sake he was meant to be the older, more mature one in this relationship! It had come to him in his History of Magic lesson with Binns that Cedric was either insecure, or very over-protective and too much of a gentleman for his own good. It made sense, the older teenager seemed to know what he wanted and he either was too scared of rejection or didn't want to push him into anything he wasn't ready for to take it. The only problem was that he never asked whether or not he wanted it.

Much to his annoyance Harry hadn't been able to get a moment with George either and personally he thought he needed a long talk with the red-head about how to deal with his nuisance of a boyfriend as well as generally have a bitch and moan about boys. He had planned on jumping the older teenager when he left the Great Hall that morning after breakfast to talk about when they could meet but much to his surprise Harry found himself being the one who was jumped.

"Hey Harry," Cho said with a smile tapping him on the shoulder. The dark-haired boy practically leapt out of his skin when she touched him and looking round at her, a hand over his heart Harry scowled.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that…" he said, frowning deeper when she seized his arm and dragged him to hide in a nearby alcove. So he couldn't even fight his own battles now? Instead he had to send Cho to do his dirty work…The girl that he had told Cedric he had used to fancy…That was low…Especially for the perfect Prefect…Really low…

"So what? He can't be bothered to talk to me so he's sent you? Well can I just say that I am so sick of his Dragonshit right now – " he started cutting off abruptly when a hand was slapped over his mouth and he couldn't carry on his tirade of abuse.

_Well that's not fair…I'm not finished…He's annoying, rude, immature…And God help me I think I love him for it._

"Just shut up a moment, Harry," Cho hissed her eyes narrowing before she removed her hand and folded her arms. Actually, now he really looked, it didn't seem Cho was best pleased about being used as the messenger and Harry couldn't help but smirk, if he knew Cho, Cedric would be in for such an arse kicking for not speaking to him. "He wants to apologise for whatever the hell it is he did to you by setting up those dance lessons he promised. He told me to tell you to meet him at the top of the Grand Staircase at ten tonight, he said you'd know a way of going unnoticed…I hope you're some kind of invisible wiz otherwise you have no hope of getting past Filch unnoticed…"

Harry smiled slightly and folded his arms, if only she knew how close to the truth she was, and he knew he couldn't vent his anger out on the girl, after all, see seemed as frustrated with Cedric's antics as he was. Nodding once he smiled a little wider before he went to side step her and start the long walk up to the dorms to fetch his bag, however, his course was obstructed suddenly as Cho threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm just as sick of him as you are, Harry. But he really likes you, and I think that scares him, thanks for giving him another chance. I'll make sure he doesn't mess up this time," she said quietly, though a faint blush stained her cheeks when she pulled away. This was his chance; it was like a light bulb had just gone off in his head in a true Eureka-style moment.

He'd been trying to get Cho alone for a few days now but every time he'd seen her she had been surrounded by friends, and Cedric. He was sure for a short time that she didn't go anywhere alone, and he had even become desperate enough to think about ambushing her when she left the toilet. But that cunning plan had gone up in flames when he saw her go in with an escort of five girls. But here she was…Alone…

Now all he had to do was get the words out of his mouth, which seemed to have gone very dry all of a sudden…

_You're gay damn it! Come on Harry you can't possibly be afraid of rejection!_

"Hey, Cho…Wouldyouliketogotothedancewithme?"

_Well done, you said it…But perhaps we need to work on breathing…_

Harry blushed suddenly and he blanched at the look of confusion on Cho's face. He was quite sure he'd spoken English. Oh God what if he had spoke in Parsletongue?! And there were a group of girls coming out of the Great Hall, and…Crap they had noticed him and Cho and now they were giggling and they should all go to hell because giggling should be illegal and Cho was speaking…

"Sorry?"

"D'you – D'you wanna go to the ball with me? I mean, I can't go with Cedric and I was just thinking that maybe I could go with you, 'cause you're really nice and…And you're already going with someone, aren't you?" Harry mumbled finally, looking down in embarrassment as her expression turned to something akin to pity. Just what he wanted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. But I've already told Cedric I'd go with him."

Harry couldn't look up because he could tell her eyes were aimed right at him and the last thing he wanted, or needed, was her sympathy. Of course he should have thought Cedric would ask her. Everyone thought they were going out so why not keep the rumours going and cover up his real sexual orientation. It was perfectly normal…But it kind of still stung being rejected by the girl he had once had eyes for.

"That's alright. I just thought I'd ask; tell Cedric I'll meet him later. See you around, Cho," he said quietly and quickly dodged past her to jog up the stairs. He didn't remember the last time he felt like this, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut, why hadn't Cedric **told** him that he had asked Cho to the dance…He was _his_ pretty-boy for Merlin's sake, and he was his if the mark on his neck had anything to do with it. How **dare** he even ask Cho without consulting him? He hadn't felt this jealous in…Well ever.

Oh he'd go to Cedric's little dance lesson, since he wanted to make it up to him so much, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make him sweat and turn up on time. And that boy had better hope and pray to whatever God be believed in that he was in a better mood or he was so dead.

And for the first time Harry realised that there was some truth in people saying jealousy was a green-eyed monster. It was and it was looking right back at him when he looked in the mirror.

* * *

Harry had never known so many people to put their names down to stay over at Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays; he always had, because he'd rather not have to deal with his relatives when he could live in relative peace and sheer luxury if he stayed, so he did. However, this year, practically everyone from the fourth year up were staying over Christmas, and all of them, especially the girls, seemed to be completely obsessed with the Ball. He swore that they were just rubbing salt into the wound purposefully…And since when were there this many girls at Hogwarts? He had never noticed the steep numbers of them before now. The corridors were teeming with them like some kind of parasitic hive, girls giggling and whispering and shrieking with laughter when boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes of what they were going to be wearing.

As for the way they watched any boy passing them as if they were waiting for the opportune moment to sink their nails into them, well, it was positively cannibalistic and reminded him sharply why he was gay. They also seemed to move in packs, it was nearly impossible to get one alone, not that he wanted to now Cho had turned him down, and the vast majority of the Hogwarts girl would simply watch him and giggle to themselves as if they were studying him or considering if they should take him down.

Cannibals; the whole lot of them.

He was on his way the History of Magic when a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken to in his life asked him to go to the ball with her. He was so taken aback he said no before he even thought about it, it would have been nice to turn round to Cedric and tell him that he had a date too, but he didn't have the heart to use the girl. She'd walked off rather hurt and he had had to endure Dean and Seamus taunting him over her for the rest of Binns' class.

During lunch he was further bombarded by a second-year girl and, much to his horror, a fifth-year who looked like she might knock him out if he said no. So, making sure he had his wand handy, he had kindly refused, though fortunately he hadn't had to hex her.

"She was quite good-looking, Harry," Dean said with a wink once he'd finally stopped laughing.

"She was a foot taller than me, can you imagine what it would look like if I had to dance with her," Harry said with a shudder, still unnerved, though he winked back and added, "Besides she'd not me type."

He'd then strode from the table and out of the Great Hall with the distinct impression that he was being watched, and when he looked round he met Cedric's eyes, only to smirk and keep walking. He was still in his bad books.

On the whole, his day had been one of angst and embarrassment, but there were a few good things that had happened. There weren't nearly as much unpleasantness towards him in the corridors, which he suspected had a lot to do with his on-ice boyfriend, whom he had seen shouting at a third-year Hufflepuff for wearing a Potter Stinks badge. He would have been grateful, if he hadn't been so pissed off with him, and when the boy caught his eye and made to walk his way he walked in the opposite direction. Nothing could deter Draco from quoting Rita Skeeter at him, but he seemed to be getting fewer and fewer laughs from it, and just to add to the few good things that had happened, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.

"She didn' seem very int'rested to tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said during Care of Magical Creatures, it had only been Ron and Harry since Hermione had decided to spend the lesson with Lavender and he couldn't help but wonder when she was going to see sense, because there was no way he was apologising. Hagrid seemed to have had a brain wave and had given up on physical contact with his little monsters, so they were simply preparing food for them for the final lesson before Christmas break. "She jus' wanted to talk about you, Harry. Well I told her that we'd been friends since I went ta fetch yeh, and that you'd always been a good kid…She seemed a little put out, like she wanted me to say yer were horrible."

Harry and Ron snorted, and continued to shell their salamander eggs, "Of course she did, she can't keep writing about the poor angsty child I am, and how I have been thrust into danger. It'll get boring."

"Yeah, she needs a new angle," Ron added, with a sagely nod. "You were supposed to say he was a mad delinquent and that if we were all lucky he kicked the bucket in the Triwizard tournament and we'd all be better off for it."

Hagrid frowned and shook his big shaggy head, "Bu' yer not! And we wouldn't be."

"She should have interviewed Snape," Harry said with a grim smile. "He'd give her all the juicy gossip on me. _Potter has been crossing lines since he first arrived at this school and a blind eye has been turned every single time. I, however, have never given him special treatment; I have treated him as I would any other student…_"

Ron burst into a fit of laughter as he spoke, turning his voice into a hoarse drawl and hunched his shoulders, attempting to slick his hair back and failing.

"Well, yeh might've bent a few rules here and there, Harry, bu' yer all right really," Hagrid said with a good natured smile.

"Cheers, Hagrid," Harry said with a grin, though it slipped when the larger man got up with the bowl of food he'd prepared.

"Le's go give'em their food then."

Harry and Ron had to muffle their groans and followed suit getting ready to be burnt in places they hadn't even known existed.

* * *

Harry had had to take evasive action to get him away from Cedric when he was walking to Gryffindor Tower that evening, it seemed that Cho had spoken to him and now the boy wouldn't leave him alone. As soon as he had seen the Hufflepuff turn a corner to the corridor he knew Harry used a lot he had bolted into a secret passage, one that was unfortunately occupied by Fred and George. They had been quietly discussing something about blackmail again, and had quickly stopped when he entered.

Though he was then in their clutches with George pawing good naturedly at him as Fred chuckled, saying, "Why, Harry. I never knew you had a twin kink."

Eventually, Harry had escaped both the twins and Cedric long enough to get to the Fat Lady's portrait, dully mumbling, "Fairy lights."

The last thing he wanted to do was go to a dancing lesson, but he had a feeling that if avoided Cedric any longer than he already had Cho would hunt him down and slap him upside his head. As he entered the Common Room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting, ashen-faced in the corner. Ginny was with him, patting his arm and speaking in what could only be described as a soothing tone.

"What's up, Ron?" Harry asked as he sat down opposite his friend, it seemed neither of them had had any luck with the girls today.

"Why did I do it?" He muttered wildly, staring at the ground, his eyes wide with horror. "I don't know why I did it!"

"Er…Did what?"

"He asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him…Or rather, he shouted it at her, it was rather frightening actually," Ginny said, she looked like she was fighting back a smile, though she continued to stroke her brother's arm.

"You what?" Harry exclaimed. OK, so now he felt a little bit better about Cho, but then again he would never have done something _that_ stupid.

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again, pounding his fists against his knees and Harry was suddenly seriously considering restraining his friend. "What was I playing at? There were people – all around – I've gone insane – everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the Entrance Hall – she was standing there talking to Diggory – and it sort of came over me – and I asked her!"

Harry felt another stab of jealousy, what had Fleur been doing talking to Cedric? She had been trying to flirt with **his** boyfriend! That little, French chit!

Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking even though Harry wasn't listening and couldn't hear him through his hands, "She looked at me like I was some kind of sea slug…Didn't even answer. And then – I dunno – I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it…"

"She's part Veela," Harry said tersely. "You were right, her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault; I bet you walked past her when she was turning on the charm for Cedric and you got a blast of it. She'd wasting her time though, he's going with Cho."

Ron looked up and frowned slightly, he could hear the carefully tempered pain and jealousy in his voice; he just knew it.

"I asked her to go with me this morning," he explained dully. "And she told me, not that I should care, it's not like I like her anymore."

"I think I'll go and have dinner," Ginny said suddenly as if she'd picked up on the desire for her to leave and Harry and Ron were left alone in the Common Room. The pair looked at each other for a moment and the red-head finally saw the hurt glimmering in his friend's eyes, he mentally kicked himself for being such a git and not thinking about Harry. He was always thinking about himself even though the green-eyed boy was always there to help him pick up the pieces.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Harry. I mean, he really didn't look interested. I think was getting pretty frustrated by it actually," Ron insisted, leaning over to grip the other boy's forearm comfortingly.

"Why the hell should I care," Harry snapped, his eyes burning angrily before he saw the disbelieving look on Ron's face. Frowning, he slumped back into his chair with a dejected sigh; it was a pitiful sight really. "What if Hermione's right, maybe all he was after was sex…I mean I don't want to believe it but, why else would he be interested in me?"

Ron opened his mouth to defend the Hufflepuff he had so detested a few weeks ago, but the words didn't get a chance to leave his lips before a distinctly feminine voice cut across him.

"Because you see the good in people and you bring out the good in people. You are one of the greatest boys I have ever met and probably will ever meet, you take on responsibility and I have never heard you moan about it…And because even though you have a pair of hot headed and annoying friends you never hold it against them when they say something incredibly stupid."

Hermione had just stepped through the portrait hole when she had spoken, and had quickly run across the room to launch herself at the smaller boy. Arms locked firmly around his neck she pressed a sisterly kiss to Harry's cheek and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Oh Harry! I am so sorry, I should have realised that you would never have even gotten involved with him if you thought he would hurt you," she whispered gently, and Harry could feel from the soft, sharp inhales that she was sobbing. Patting her awkwardly on the shoulder he wrapped his arms around her small waist, rocking her gently.

"I know you were only worried about me, 'Mione. Don't apologise," he said gently before nudging her off his lap and onto the arm rest. "But it seems you might be a little bit right, he's being a dick."

"He's a boy, Harry, it's what they do. They don't even realise they're doing it half the time," Hermione replied with a small smile as she wiped her eyes, ignoring the indignant yelp the comment received from Ron.

"I do not – "

"Oh please Ronald, you informed me yesterday that it took you three years to notice that I was a girl!"

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

"OK, OK, we know you're a girl," he said, and Harry had to wince at his friends lack of tact. "That do? Will you go with me now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione said angrily, looking close to tears again. "I'm going with someone else! Good night, Harry."

And with that she stormed off towards the girl's dormitories.

"She's lying," Ron said flatly as he watched her go.

"I don't think she is," Harry said with a small sigh, no sooner had he made up with Hermione, Ron had driven a stake between them all again. Perfect.

Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in thought the portrait hole. The time had come for desperate action; there was no way he was going to turn up to Cedric's dance lesson without a date.

"Wait here," he said to Ron and stood up, walking across the Common Room and walked right up to Parvati.

"Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"

The two girls went into a fit of giggles and as he waited for them to subside he crossed his fingers in the pockets of his robes.

"Yes, all right, then," she said finally, blushing furiously.

"Oh, and do you know if anyone will go with Ron?" he added quietly so the red-head wouldn't hear, it would do to hurt the poor boy's pride.

"Well…" Parvati said slowly, her nose scrunching up in concentration. "I suppose my sister might…Padma, you know…in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."

"Would you? Oh that would be great! That's Parvati," Harry said with a small smile that set the pair off in another fit of giggles.

And as he walked back over to Ron he couldn't help but think that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth. But on the plus side he had a date.

_Suck on that, Cedric._

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Cedric looked down at his watch from his position at the top of the staircase with a little frown. It was almost quarter past ten and there was no sign of Harry, Cho had said that he'd agreed to meet him, but he'd been avoiding him so much today. He had to admit that he had been a bit of an idiot for just leaving the boy hanging and not even telling him he needed to get his head around what he had done but surely he didn't deserve the silent treatment? Then again, he guessed that telling him would have been better than simply ignoring him.

And now he knew how that felt. Twice he'd seen Harry, and twice he knew that the boy had seen him too, but when he'd gone to speak with him he had airily turned and walked the other way. It hurt…

It hurt a lot.

"Come on, Harry…Let me at least apologise," he mumbled to himself as he started, once again, to pace.

"That's why I'm here. I'm not rude enough to just let you stand here all night waiting for me," a familiar voice said to his left, and clasping a hand over his heavily pounding heart, Cedric turned, smiling slightly when he saw Harry's head floating in midair.

However, his smile slipped when he saw the hurt look on his boyfriend's face and took a few steps forward to gently brush his knuckles down the porcelain face. It was amazing that no matter how many times he saw him, Harry always took his breath away. He was heart-breakingly beautiful, and he couldn't forgive himself for knowing that he was the reason the green-eyed teen was looking at him like that.

"Harry, what's wrong?" he said gently, watching the boy's lower lip tremble before his hand was knocked away from his face.

"You need to take me to where ever it is you're taking me and put a silencing spell up right now," Harry hissed, before turning on his heel and starting to stalk back the way he'd come.

For a few moments Cedric could do nothing but stare after the younger boy, but he quickly came to his senses and jogged after him. He could feel the guilt bubbling in his stomach as he watched Harry from the corner of his eyes, knowing better than to try and touch him when he was like this. Instead he gestured to a door before pushing it open and revealing a small classroom that Harry hadn't seemed to have known about.

For the sake of their lessons, he had pushed the desks back to line the walls and had set up the CD player his mother had spelled to work on magic, all it took was the touch of a wizard and witch and it would be powered by their magic. It was a nifty little gift, and one he was glad she had given to him. Now it came to it thought he was less concerned about his choice of music and more concerned about his boyfriend's feelings.

As the Gryffindor stepped into the centre of the room and slung his cloak from his shoulders, Cedric shut the door and quickly cast the silencing spell before turning towards Harry. It was as if the moment the spell slotted into place a dam inside the small boy had broken and he was suddenly quailing under the green-eyed menace's glare.

"You bastard! You complete and utter bastard!" he shouted, and Cedric could do nothing but wince at the sheer anger and pain in his lover's voice. "You drag me into that bathroom and – and dear God I think you made me love you even more while we were in there than I loved you before I went in! And I was just about ready to fucking tell you that when you decided that it would be much more fun and far better to just **ignore** me!

And then I have to find out from Cho that you wanted to make it up to me with dance lessons, and oh, what else did we talk about? Ah, yes, now I remember, you're taking her to the ball and didn't even have the **guts** to tell me yourself. Then I go up into the Common Room to find out that Fleur was practically trying to charm her way into your pants from my best friend who was pretty hysterical at the time about asking her to the ball! And do you know what? Screw you because you're not the only one who can get a date and now I'm going with Parvati! But at least I have the balls to tell you instead of just letting you find out on your own!

So I thought I'd give you a taste of your own medicine, you know? I thought I'd give you the silent treatment, make you see how much it **hurts** to be ignored! And that backfired big time, cause then I got molested by the twins while hiding from you and you're staring at me with those fucking gorgeous eyes like I'm killing you with every word I say and no matter how much I want to make you feel my pain and no matter how much I want to hate your very existence at the moment I just can't! So I hope your fucking happy, Cedric Diggory, because I don't know what the hell you've done but I can't stay angry at you!"

A long drawn out silence fell between them, Harry standing in the middle of the room, his small chest heaving with dry sobs, trying to force back the tears that were threatening to fall and Cedric still standing by the door wanting nothing more than to pull the boy into his embrace and take the pain away. But that wouldn't work and as far as he could tell Harry didn't want him anywhere near him right now. Perhaps he had been right; perhaps the whole idea had been stupid.

He should never have made a move on Harry.

"I…I'm so sorry," he finally managed to say, his voice thick with emotion as he forced himself to stay by the door. "I'm so very sorry, Harry. Perhaps I should – "

"Don't you dare saying you're going to leave," Harry snapped suddenly, his blazing eyes locking with the stormy-grey ones radiating nothing but concern and guilt. "I don't know if I can be in a relationship with someone who thinks that running away from a problem is as good as solving it. If you're going to disappear every time things get too difficult for you to deal with then – " he choked on the words that tried to force their way from his throat " – then I don't want to see you anymore."

Those last words alone made his heart break and made up his mind for him. He wasn't going to leave his little Gryffindor to think he was worthless, and knowing Harry the boy would take it as a personal insult.

Finally Cedric plucked up the courage to close the gap between them and he pulled the sobbing boy into a warm embrace, rocking his gently. Harry buried his face into his shoulder and, much to the Hufflepuff's relief, he didn't push him away, instead, the small hands that had moved to his chest had fisted his robes. It was like the boy wanted to climb into the warm fabric with him, but he could do nothing but rest his cheek on the top of his head and gently shush him.

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry," Cedric whispered soothingly, closing his eyes as he breathed in the soft scent of strawberry shampoo in his boyfriend's hair. "I won't leave you alone."

"You promise?"

The words were so quiet, frightened and dejected that his already bleeding heart broke again, every throb of life sending another stab of guilt through his veins. He had suspected that Harry's home life hadn't been good; no one could be that slender naturally. It had been wrong of him to almost dangle the affection in front of him, allowing him to taste a small amount before taking it away again.

It was torture. And it was destroying him. And he should have seen it sooner.

"I promise. I won't leave you alone again," Cedric whispered finally and the tension in the small body pressed to his lessened and for a moment he was worried Harry wasn't going to support his own weight. But he did and it was only after another stretch of silence that he pulled away.

Harry quickly wiped the tears away, pretending they had never been and forced a cheery smile, which would have been far more believable had Cedric not been able to see the anguish in his little lover's eyes. Smiling back a little sadly, Cedric strode to the CD player, quickly putting a disc inside and skipping to the third track. He couldn't help but wonder if Harry had heard of the Muggle who had written the song he was about to play. He hoped so.

Jon McLaughlin. Not many people seemed to have heard of him, but those who did all agreed that he was amazing. The man had a voice that hit a chord in his soul, it was beautiful, haunting yet at the same time husky and meaningful. His was one of the voices that he loved. Only one other voice could compare to it, and the owner was standing in the room with him. Maybe during the summer they could go and see him? For some reason he thought that Harry would like that, it would give him a reason to leave that accursed house for a little while.

Chewing his lower lip nervously, Cedric pressed the play button and walked slowly across the room, to stop hesitantly in front of Harry. He didn't want to sound incredibly cliché, but at the same time he wanted to sweep the younger boy off his feet. So, holding out his hands, he set Harry an apologetic smile.

_Head down, as I watch my feet take turns hitting the ground,_

_Eyes shut, I find myself in love racing the Earth._

"I know I made a huge mistake, and I know that you hate my guts right now, but will you dance with me?"

Forgiveness flashed in the Gryffindor's eyes and, much to Cedric's relief, he took the extended hand.

"Are you sure about this, Cedric? You've seen what a disaster I am on the dance floor. I might hurt you, not to mention myself," Harry teased, unable to feel bad while his boyfriend was looking at him with such pitiful concern on his face. It was adorable, and it made him feel special. At least when he'd given him the ultimatum he hadn't left him. Apparently the boy really did care for him.

"I'm sure any injuries I attain while dancing with you will be thoroughly deserved…Besides, I'd never let you hurt yourself, my little green-eyed menace," Cedric whispered with a small smile as he pulled the boy's smaller frame to his own, placing one hand on his hip as the other took Harry's hand in his own.

Harry looked up at the Prefect with a small smile and squeezed his hand gently as his other moved to rest on Cedric's shoulder. The boy smiled back down at him and rested their foreheads together, and for a moment they both forgot about the classroom they were in and instead basked in the love and affection he could feel radiating from the warm heat in front of him.

_And I soaked in your love,_

_And love is right in my path, in my grasp;_

_And me and you belong. _

Each dip, turn and gentle kiss that Cedric performed was a surprise, and a welcome one. They didn't need to speak; words would simply ruin it, so they felt. And this time messy lust and desire had nothing to do with it. It wasn't gone, it was still there, pulsating gently beneath their control, but this moment was more important than that, and nothing more than a few light kisses and gentle nips were shared.

_I wanna run, run smack into you._

_I'm willing to run, run smack into you._

Neither Harry or Cedric wanted the dance to end. Both would have happily spent the rest of eternity wrapped in each other's embraces. But it had to end, as all good things do.

And as Cedric pressed a soft kiss to Harry's lips he finally understood why he had been so afraid. Only. Now it wasn't as frightening, in fact, now he knew, he found it liberating.

"I love you, Harry Potter."

A hitched breath. A small smile. And then the words that the Boy-Who-Lived had never thought he would get the chance to say.

"I love you, Cedric."


	16. Bonus Chapter: 100 Reviews

**Author's Note:** Why is it every time I update I end up grovelling? Because I'm a bad, bad writer that's why. I'm so very sorry I've kept everyone waiting, and I'm so very sorry that this only a bonus chapter and not as long as my usual chapters, but I wanted to explore George and Lee's relationship, so here's a little snippet about how they got together and their little trials and tribulations about their sexuality. ^^ I hope you enjoy and I'll try to update soon! =3

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**Bonus Chapter: 100 Reviews**

**Back To The Beginning**

George sat back into the comfort of the large armchair, careful not to jostle Lee's head as he did, placing the end of his quill between his teeth. He absently twisted his fingers in the braids of his boyfriend's hair as he desperately shook off the desire to sleep for the millionth time that night. He needed to finish off this essay for Flitwick, and Lee, who had promised to help, had fallen asleep about an hour and a half ago.

_Git. Just because he's done his…It's his fault, he interrupted my study time in the library…_

A knowing smile crossed his face, he really couldn't complain about how that had turned out. He'd thoroughly enjoyed himself. Still, he couldn't bring himself to wake the boy up, he looked so peaceful.

Although he would never admit it aloud, the Weasley enjoyed watching his lover sleep; it showed a side of Lee that no one else got to see. And it made him swell with pride that his past friend had agreed to go out with him.

_No. Essay. Not Lee. Essay. Essay. Essay. Making a tea tray serve itself…Lee's eyes…Tea trays…Lee kissing me…_

George groaned quietly, Lee absently making it harder for him to concentrate when he shifted his head in his lap. He was never going to get this damn essay done. Penance he assumed for being too involved in his boyfriend to get the bloody thing finished.

Ever since Harry had admitted to him that he and Cedric were interested in each other, George couldn't stop himself from thinking about his relationship with Lee. About how rocky it had been when they started out. It hadn't exactly been easy for them, what with Fred being their friend as well, and it wasn't like they wanted to make him a third wheel, but they hadn't been able to help themselves. Then there was the guilt that accompanied their stolen kisses. Their drunken caresses when they had enough guts to drink in their dorm; too buoyed up on Firewhisky to care about what they were doing or think of the consequences of being caught by Fred.

It had turned out that his red-headed twin had known all along, perhaps before they did, that they were attracted to each other; and he had been alright with it. In fact, Fred had talked him into following a relationship with their friend; he had promised him that no one would judge him for it, not Lee, not Fred, not even his parents. And they had followed his advice, because they both knew that for all his whining about it he was just glad to see them both happy.

Fred had been the reason they had made it this far through all of the fights.

George was once again pulled from his musings when he felt Lee shift again, rolling onto his side to bury his face into his sweater and he smiled to himself. They'd both had their first sexual encounter together, though it had taken them perhaps another year to actually get round to losing their virginity, after a particularly nasty argument that Fred had fixed, or tried to, it hadn't exactly been how he had expected it to go, but he wouldn't change it for the world. They had both come to realize just how much they meant to each other; the fact that angry sex was the best was probably a factor too.

It had been in their fourth year, after the Quidditch match where they had been sent back to the Common Room because Hermione had been petrified. He'd been upset about it, honestly he had been, but he and Fred and the entire team had put in so much training for the match only for it to be cancelled. He'd been livid on the way back, venting his anger to Fred and Lee, whom he had been dating for three or four months. He'd always been confused about dates since Lee counted the month they had been aware of each other's feelings but he counted from the day he had officially asked the boy to be his boyfriend; or as Fred had lovingly put it 'be his bitch'. Needless to say neither of them had spoken to him for a couple of days after that comment.

"It's just not fair! I get it. I mean it's a real tragedy that Hermione's been petrified. Really I'm all tears. But why do they have to cancel our match? We've worked so hard for this! Besides, it's not like whatever's doing this is gonna come out onto the pitch with all the teachers there."

George frowned slightly when he felt Lee bristle next to him and looking round he saw Fred looking at him as though he had just slapped the dark skinned boy. Tilting his head he started at his boyfriend and ground to a halt, the crowd parting around them as Lee continued to stare at him.

"What?" he asked, but no sooner had the words passed his lips he felt Lee's fist collide with his stomach.

"Do you think you could stop being a selfish prat for more than five seconds? You're not the only person who's upset about this. I haven't even seen my boyfriend for the past three weeks because he's been too busy 'training' and when I do go and watch him practice I have to see him flirt with Katie Bell. And now it's all boiled down to nothing, but do you hear me whining about it? No. You learn to get over it. Something bad is happening here, George. People are being taken out left right and centre because they're muggle-borns, and it's not right, we've got Slytherins laughing about it and bloody hell, George some of them are worried about this….And…And now your **brother's** friend has been attacked and all you can do is bitch about your own problems. Well grow up, Weasley, it's not always about you!" Lee snapped, his voice gradually increasing in dynamic until he was all but shouting at him, his fists balled up at his side. Then, glaring at George he turned on his heel with a clipped, "See you later, Fred."

Three paces later and the dark haired boy was gone, swallowed up by the tirade of people and leaving a stunned George to stare after him right up until his twin dragged him towards the Entrance Hall.

"What just happened?"

"You just had your arse served to you on a plate by your boyfriend for being a whining five-year old girl," Fred replied bluntly, casting a sideward glance at his brother.

"But…Where the hell does he get off telling me that I don't care?! And where do you get off telling me I'm a five-year old girl?!"

"Well you did kind of sound like a dick, George…I mean, 'I'm all tears' probably set him off. It did me. Besides, I'm your twin, if anyone deserves to tell you you're being a twit it's me," Fred said with an angry shrug, freezing his brother's counter argument before it could even formulate in his head with a steely glare. "And don't give me the crap saying that it's not your fault because it is. So you know what you're going to do? You're gonna go and tell Lee that you're sorry for being such a moron and you're gonna kiss and make up. 'Cause so help me if I have to put up with you two in another lovers tiff again I might just go off relationships for good."

George scowled at the identical face in front of him for a moment before sighing, he wasn't going to win the argument and he knew it. And with a small nod in Fred's direction he jogged through the crowds so he could get to the Common Room and talk to Lee before the rest of his house got there. However, it hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped, they'd been spoken to firmly by their head of year and the red-head had desperately tried to catch his boyfriend's eye.

Lee was being his stubborn self and adamantly refused to look his way and as soon as they were dismissed he trekked up the stairs to their dorm. George looked round at Fred nervously, unwilling to go up there and face the other boy's wrath, but his twin merely glared at him and jerked his head up.

Sighing, he put his hands in his pockets and slowly traipsed to his doom, pushing the door open with the toe of his shoe.

"Hey, Lee…"

He wasn't dignified with a response. Lee was sat on his bed, back propped up against the pillows with his face buried in a book. Only said book was upside down. Chewing his lower lip lightly the red-headed twin hesitantly crossed the room to sit on the edge of his lover's bed, however a short glare that was thrown his way ensured he hopped up and stood.

"Come on, Lee," he whined and decided to throw caution to the wind by crawling across the bed to tug the boy into a small hug. Hoping and praying Lee didn't push him away. "You know I'm an idiot…I didn't mean it like that I swear. I do care that Hermione has been petrified but I'm trying to apologize here."

For a long moment nothing was said and his embrace wasn't returned, though the book was placed down on the bed next to him. Looking round at him Lee sighed, looking as though he was struggling to stay angry at the other, "Well? I'm waiting."

Bouyed by Lee's body language George gently pressed a small kiss just below his boyfriend's ear. "Well…I'm sorry for being such a prat and I'll try very hard not to do it, but sometimes I don't think before I speak. I'll try harder so I don't piss you off, because I don't like it when you don't talk to me," he mumbled quietly and dropped his lips to gently trace Lee's pulse.

The dark-skinned boy couldn't suppress the small shudder that ran through his body and he subconsciously leant back into George's touch. He moaned very softly when he felt teeth on his earlobe and shifting in the other's arms he straddled the twin's lap. "I hate it when you do that," he hissed before pressing his lips to his lover's.

The red-head silently cheered his victory in his head but made a mental note to think before he spoke, though the thought was disrupted when Lee suddenly ground his hips down to meet his. Growling lightly he focused on his smaller lover and gently nipped at his boy's lower lip, his hands dropping to rest on Lee's hips.

They both hazily stared each other for a moment, lust flickering in their eyes, before their mouths came together harder, teeth clashing and tongues dancing, Lee's hands tunneling through George's hair. Those slender fingers tightened slightly when the red-head started to rock his hips up against his lover and they both moaned into each other's mouth Lee instinctually rocking down to increase the friction.

The feel was overwhelming, pleasure shot down their backs, through their limbs and pooled in their hands and feet. Lee's toes curled slightly at a particularly hard thrust with a louder keening sound that made George's heart race and his blood boil. He'd never felt like this. And it was intoxicating.

The temperature in the room was rising, and the pair started to sweat, their movements becoming more desperate as their moans became louder. Lee was making the most beautiful sounds the twin had ever heard; whines and mewls, sighs and moans. And the look on his face sent George's mind into overdrive; his head was tilted back, his dark skin gleaming with damp, his mouth moving from open pants to teeth grinding whines.

Tightening his grip on his lover's hips, George sped up their thrusts, leaning forward to lavish attention on the boy's neck, biting down hard. Lee's eyes shot open, a cry, muffled by his own hand and he attempted to keep himself quiet, passed his lips and the boy came, taking his red-headed lover with him.

Panting heavily, the pair sat there for a moment, basking in the after-glow before George gently pushed Lee onto the bed next to him. Apparently the force of his release was too much for the small boy and he mumbled something sleepily before curling up, drifting off quickly. Wondering if they should perhaps clean up, George rummaged for his wand before casting a clumsy cleaning spell that he'd learnt from his mother before spooning himself to the other boy, nuzzling the back of his neck before falling asleep.

And that was how Fred had found them when he'd investigated their whereabouts, half expecting George to be locked on a trunk somewhere. Smiling to himself he'd tugged the curtains around their bed closed before retreating to his own, chuckling to himself about how stupid the pair really could be.

George had laughed when Fred had told him that, and chuckling to himself quietly, the twin set about finishing his essay, which was now even more difficult than before with the painful erection he was now trying to hide from his sleeping boyfriend. Licking his dry lips ten minutes later he wrote down the final sentence with a small sigh, sure it wasn't a genius masterpiece but at least it was finished.

Glancing down at his boyfriend he saw that Lee was awake a watching him as he rolled the parchment up. Smiling slightly he let Lee sit up, shifting somewhat uncomfortably when the boy straddled his hips, even after those two years he'd been with his dark-skinned lover this was still his favorite position.

Feeling the bulge in his lover's pants Lee laughed slightly, "What have you been thinking about?"

"The first time we slept together."

"Oh? After the argument or the first time we actually had sex?" Lee asked with an amused look in his eye.

"The argument."

"And after all this time you still haven't stopped acting like a prat," Lee teased, pressing a gentle kiss to George's lips, enjoying the way the other pouted. "What bought that on?"

"Harry and Cedric," George mumbled his pride sore from his lover's comment and he refused to kiss back.

It was Lee's turn to pout, though it soon turned into a wicked grin. "I've upset you…Let me make it up to you," he said with a wink before getting up and holding out his hand to his lover, leading him towards the bathrooms. No one would be using them at this time of night.

It was times like this when George didn't mind fighting with Lee. It was the making up that made it all worth while.


	17. Chapter Thirteen

**Author's Note:** *Peers* Er…Hey. I can imagine people are probably expecting this to be a post about how I won't be continuing this story. Wrong. I am sorry, but I'm afraid I have no real excuses as to why I haven't updated; call it writers block in the most extreme of cases and a lack of a muse. I understand if I have no reviewers left (I don't blame you) but reviewers or not I am going to finish this god damned fic. I'm not sure how often I'll be updating, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Go easy on me now, I bruise easily. I hope you enjoy the next chapter and hope you're all well!

=3 XxBeccixX

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**Christmas Presents**

The holidays were here; and as was common with winter at Hogwarts the entire landscape was covered in a thick layer of snow. The scene was picturesque, and even the heavy load of homework the fourth-years (that Ron had justly named their 'mountain') had been given couldn't bring down the spirits that were soaring high. Even Harry was in no mood to work when the term ended, and he spent the weeks leading up to Christmas enjoying himself with everyone else; the experience made all the more special due to his bronze haired, grey eyed boyfriend. Gryffindor Tower was no less crowded than it was during term-time – which in itself was a concept Harry was struggling to come to terms with, usually over the holidays people went home – it also seemed to have shrunk slightly as its inhabitants became more rowdy than usual. Fred and George were having great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays people had been spontaneously combusting into feather; the residual bright yellow feathers that were scattered about the floor were something that Filch had great fun bemoaning as he skulked about the halls.

However, it hadn't taken long for all of the Gryffindors to learn to treat food from anyone else with great suspicion, on the off chance that it had a Canary Cream hidden in the centre. Not only did Harry have to dodge being turned into a florescent yellow bird, he now had to worry about what the twins were developing next; he'd already made a mental note never to accept so much as a bean from Fred and George in the future. He still hadn't forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.

The pale blue Beaxbatons carriage looked like a large, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin; looking like something out of a fairytale. Of course the image was made even more impressive when the girls filed out two abreast clad in pale blue coats lined with white mink fur. The Durmstrang ship had a thick layer of ice round the hull, strong enough from the looks of things to stand on, the small portholes were glazed with ice and the rigging was white with frost. In fact over the last few days some of the Hogwarts students had taken to skating on the ice encrusting the pebble covered shores of the lake, on occasion joined by the boys from the ship when they thought Karkaroff wasn't looking; even though there was rarely any point when the large fuzzy beard man wasn't lurking about.

The house-elves were down in the kitchen and outdoing their usual fabulous standards of food; filling the large tables in the Great Hall with rich, warm stews and savoury puddings until the wood was groaning under the weight of it all. Only Fleur seemed to be able to find anything to complain about, as Harry, Ron and Hermione found out when they were passing the blonde on their way to lunch.

"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," she had whined to her friend arm in arm and adamantly ignoring Ron who had taken to sulking behind Harry's smaller form whenever she came within a few feet of them. Fleur placed a hand on her stomach and groaned over dramatically causing Hermione's face to twist into a scowl. "I shant fit into my dress robes!"

"Oooooh. There's a tragedy waiting to happen. Quickly, everyone hide the pudding from Miss Delacour," the bushy haired brunette snapped and glared after the older girl's retreating figure. "She really thinks a lot of herself doesn't she? And she obviously **wants** everyone to know she isn't happy or she would have been polite enough to complain in French."

"Hermione – who are you going to the ball with?"

Harry stared at the redhead with a small frown of confusion at the sudden change of conversation. And then he remembered; Ron kept springing the same question on the girl as if hoping to startle a response out of her by asking it when she least expected it. However Hermione simply frowned and shook her head, telling him that she wasn't going to tell them because Ron would make fun of her. And before the redhead could try to persuade her otherwise a cold voice interrupted their conversation from behind them.

"You're joking aren't you, Weasle?"

Ah, Malfoy. The little ray of joy in every day.

"You're telling me someone's asked **that** to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?"

Harry and Ron whipped around to tell the slimy bastard to _mind his own business _but Hermione smiled and waved to someone over the blonde's shoulder. "Hello Professor Moody!"

Draco went a delightful shade of white, looking a lot like a Nearly Headless Nick, and jumped away from the trio, straight into Crabbe who made a small noise of irritation as the cake he'd been finishing off was knocked out of his hand. However the afore mentioned professor was up at the staff table, having a heated discussion with Professor Flitwick about something or other, every so often dipping his spoon into the bowl of steaming soup in front of him.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy," Hermione taunted scathingly and sent the boy a toothy grin as she, Harry and Ron continued into the hall laughing loudly before settling on one of the benches.

They had been just about to tuck into the array of food when a small hoot distracted them, and after the three of them had looked around for the source Hermione finally found Pigwidgeon sat in one of the half empty bowls of bread, pecking feverishly at a slice. "Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed and snatched the small bird from the bowl. "You bring letters straight to the addressee! You don't hang about pigging out and contaminating the food! Pig."

Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his little head protruding over Ron's fist and his tiny eyes set on his master with another half coo. And despite himself Ron found him placing the bird into his palm and gently ruffling the plumage atop his head, a small half-smile gracing his features as Pig hooted all the louder. Hermione was smiling knowingly at the redhead and as soon as the boy noticed his ears turned a bright brilliant red and held out the owl to Harry, mumbling something about how he didn't like animals to be hurt and for Harry to take the letter.

They had been late to lunch and most of the tables had been deserted as the other students spent what was left of their free time outside or by the fires of their common rooms, and so Harry read the letter from Sirius out loud in a hushed tone:

_Dear Harry,_

_Congratulations on getting past the Horntail, whoever put your name in that Goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point –_

"That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered but immediately hushed as both of the boys frowned at her, as if wondering why she had interrupted with that useless piece of information.

_- but your way was better, I'm impressed._

_Don't get complacent though Harry. You've only done one take; whoever put you in for the Tournament has got plenty more opportunity to kill you. Keep your eyes open – particularly when the person we discussed is lurking about – and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble._

_Keep in touch; I still want to hear about anything unusual._

_Padfoot _

"He sounds exactly like Moody," Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, tossing his spoon into his bowl with a frown and folding the letter up to tuck into his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes closed and banging off the walls. I'm – "

"But he's right Harry. You have still got two tasks to do and you really ought to have another look at that egg, you know...Start working out what it means..."

"Is that all your friends are talking about as well Harry?"

Smiling brightly the dark haired boy looked up and over his shoulder to look at Cedric, who had snuck up on the three of them without them knowing and Harry nodded, pulling a face. "You'd think I was a chicken...Do you think if I sit on it for long enough..."

"Don't bother, already tried it."

Both boys grinned at each other and Harry got to his feet, turning to look at his friends with an imploring look. "Do you mind?"

"No, it's alright. You go Harry, we'll see you in Potions."

And with that Cedric all but dragged the younger boy to a secluded hallway where they could 'talk' away from prying eyes.

* * *

"Harry!"

He had been about to start the ascent of the Great Staircase when he heard his name called and Harry turned to see the welcome sight of his Hufflepuff boyfriend jogging from breakfast to catch up to him. Both boys awkwardly smiled at each other as Cedric skidded to a halt next to him and Harry started up the stairs with the bronze haired boy not too far behind him.

"Do you know what day it is?" Cedric asked finally, encroaching on the silence that had fallen between them and chuckled at Harry's confused expression.

Of course he knew what day it was. What a stupid question. He'd woken up to Dobby bouncing on his bed that morning and had been given present after present. It was Christmas, the one day of the year that he held equal animosity and love for. Animosity because of the lack of affection from his muggle family and love because recently it had become a nice holiday...Though he was sure that would change if he were to spend it with the Dursleys.

"Oh...Merry Christmas Cedric."

The older boy smiled and, after checking no one was around, grasped Harry's hand to stop him from walking, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Merry Christmas Harry."

Never mind, this was now the best Christmas he'd ever had, and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet.

Chuckling at the dazed look on the younger boy's face Cedric reached into his robes and pulled out a small box, wrapped in golden paper with a small red bow on the top. Gryffindor colours. And with a tentative smile Harry took the parcel from his boyfriend looking down at it for a long moment.

"Yours is upstairs."

"I didn't get you something so you'd get me a present in return Harry. I got you a present because I wanted to."

To have it spelt out like that sent Harry's heart into overdrive, and before he could stop himself he'd launched himself at the bronze haired Adonis, pulling him down into a tight hug. How long they remained like that he wasn't sure, but eventually Cedric untangled their fingers from each other's robes and nudged the hand clasping the box to his chest.

"You going to open it or do I have to do it for you?" the older boy chuckled.

Pulling the gift a little closer to his chest Harry looked down at it and bit his lip (a habit he seemed to have picked up off of Cedric). In silence he eased the paper from the box, trying desperately not to tear it and teasingly placed the bow on his boyfriend's nose, grinning when Cedric simply relocated it to his hair – so, Harry assumed, he could see his face better when he finally opened the black box now in the palm of his hand.

Inside the box was a dark puce velvet interior and placed in the very center was a beautiful gold ball, the exact shape, size and design of a snitch. Looking up at Cedric's eager face he smiled and cautiously inched the snitch out of the box, half expecting it to spread its gossamer wings and flit over their heads. But whatever was inside the ball was heavy and he watched as the older boy leant forward and turned a small catch, opening it.

The corridor was filled with the quiet tones of a music box, delicate and yet strangely powerful in the high sweeping notes. For a moment Harry didn't say a word or so much as move, something that set Cedric's nerves on edge. And then, gently, the younger boy closed the lid on the snitch and smiled up at him, standing on his toes to press a barely there kiss to his cheek. "Thank you...Though mine is nothing compared to this. You'll be disappointed."

"Not if it's from you," Cedric whispered honestly and smiled back at the dark haired, green eyed youth.

Blushing, Harry placed the snitch back in its box and slipped it into his robes, "Me, Ron and the twins are thinking about having a snowball fight later...Do you want to come?"

"Do I get my present then?" Cedric teased and brushed a thumb over Harry's lower lip, shuddering when he felt teeth nibbling against the pad.

"We'll see."

And with one last Cheshire-like grin, Harry had disappeared around the corner and up the steps to the Gryffindor common room, leaving Cedric feeling very unfulfilled...In more than one way.

* * *

The afternoon had been spent having some well deserved and well meaning fun. The snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. However it had been somewhat awkward when Harry had turned up with his boyfriend and George and Cedric had spent a good ten minutes sizing each other up; the latter telling George to stop flirting with what was _his _and the former telling Cedric that if he hurt Harry he would find himself without any kneecaps. Well aimed snowballs from Fred and Harry had immediately stopped the show of testosterone and in no time the fight was underway.

Hermione had chosen to spend the time watching Harry, Cedric and the Weasleys' snowball fight – that had quickly turned into wrestling in the snow, rather than join in. And at five o'clock, much to the boy's confusion, she had declared she was going up to the dorms to get ready for the ball.

"What do you need three hours for?" Ron shouted from behind his fort, peering over the top at the girl's retreating back incredulously. He did however pay for his lapse in concentration when both Harry and George launched an attack, both snowballs hitting the boy square on the side of the head. "And who're you going with?" he yelled after ducking behind the mass of snow again just in time to see Hermione simply wave and another snowball come soaring towards him.

There was no Christmas tea today, as there usually was, as the ball included a feast. So at seven o'clock when it had become too hard to aim properly they abandoned their snowball fight and trudged up the steps. The three Weasley's trooped on ahead, Ron only at the persuasion of his brothers, and left Harry and Cedric to say goodbye to each other before the ball.

"I wish I could take you," the bronze haired boy mumbled again Harry's lips, making his squirm as he slid his ice cold hands up under his jumper and shirt.

Again Harry wished he was a girl, though this time not to get Cedric's attention (because he did that well enough just the way he was), but so he could mix in public with him. With no more sneaking about. But such was their relationship and he was happy to sneak if that meant he got to be with Cedric.

"I still haven't got my present you know."

Harry chuckled and shook his head, slipping from Cedric's grasp with a bright smile, ignoring the way the older boy glowered at him for his hasty escape. "I know. You'll get it after the ball...Meet me in the classroom you give me dance classes in at about one?"

"In the morning?" Seeing Harry's nod of acknowledgement Cedric nodded in turn and smiled, pushing the boy towards the staircase. "I'll meet you there...Though hopefully we'll chat before then. Now go upstairs and get ready. I'll see you later."

The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy from what appeared to be three or four boxes of chocolate liqueurs scattered about the bottom of her picture.

"Lairy fights! That's the one," she giggled when Harry gave the password and she swung forward on her hinges to let him into the strangely empty common room. Everyone must be getting ready, he assumed.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory; all looking very self conscious, but none so much as Ron who was surveying himself in the long mirror in the corner with undisguised horror. There was nothing they could think of that would make the robes look less of a dress; and in a desperate attempt to regain some of his masculinity Ron cast a severing charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked quite well; at least he was now lace free and didn't look like Peeves, but he hadn't done a very neat job. Now the edges just looked hopelessly frayed and with a small self-suffering sigh they set off downstairs to their demise.

"I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year," Dean grumbled and frowned, looking at his feet.

"Animal magnetism," Ron muttered gloomily, pulling stray threads out of his fraying cuffs.

The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different coloured robes instead of the uniform black they had to wear. Parvati was waiting for Harry at the bottom of the stairs looking very pleased with herself for catching a Hogwarts Champion. She looked very pretty actually in robes of bright pink with her long dark plait braided with gold and gold bangles glimmering at her wrists. He was just relieved she wasn't giggling.

"You – er – look nice..." He mumbled awkwardly.

"Thanks, Harry," she said brightly, apparently taking his discomfort as compliment – perhaps thinking that he was too shocked at her beauty to come up with anything better, and she took his arm, batting her eyelashes at him.

He desperately wanted to say something. Something that would have left her under no illusions that this was a...a business deal of sorts. But perhaps not bellowing at the top of his lungs that he was gay...

"Padma's going to meet you in the Entrance Hall," she added to Ron.

And so began the utter disaster that was the Yule Ball.

* * *

After the first calamity that was dancing in front of everyone with Parvati Harry had spent the rest of the evening with Ron, both glowering at their respective desires – even if Ron would never admit to desiring Hermione. Harry couldn't help but feel a little bitter at how much fun Cedric seemed to be having with Cho, how they both laughed and how he played the part of smitten boyfriend very convincingly. Not once did the older boy so much as spare him a glance, let alone come over to talk to him; and he was so angry about the whole ordeal that halfway through the evening Parvati left on the arm of some Durmstrang to enjoy herself.

Come eleven o'clock he and Ron had had enough and they both disappeared into the gardens, coming across Hagrid and Madame Maxime's somewhat embarrassing conversation before they both sat in the corner discussing giants. Neither of them had any inclination to dance and Harry tired not to watch Cedric and Cho; it gave him the strong desire to kick something.

When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight everyone gave them one last, loud round of applause and started to disperse into the Entrance Hall. Many of the students around him were bemoaning that the ball had ended so soon, but as far as Harry was concerned it had gone on long enough and he was more than happy to put the entire fiasco behind him.

Out in the Entrance Hall Harry and Ron saw Hermione wish Krum goodnight before he waded his way through the snow back to the Durmstrang ship. As soon as she saw them she sent the redhead a cold glare and swept past him up the marble staircase without a word to either of them. They had both been about to follow her when halfway up the steps Harry heard someone calling him.

Cedric.

Well it was about time. Though, it was too little too late, the damage was done. He was officially pissed off with him again.

"Hey – Harry!"

Turning to look at his boyfriend Harry forced a small smile at Cho who was standing at the bottom waiting for Cedric and looking quite worried about the whole situation.

"Yeah?" he asked coldly as the bronze haired boy jogged up the steps, two at a time, towards him.

Cedric looked liked her didn't want to say whatever was on his mind in front of Ron, who shrugged and looking bad-tempered continued to climb the stairs. He was kind of glad he'd gone too, because he was hoping that whatever the boy was going to say would be nice. Perhaps an apology.

"Listen..." Cedric lowered his voice and leant forward a little, mindful of the few people watching them. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know you golden egg? Does it wail when you open it?"

"Yeah." He hadn't meant for it to sound so snappish, but this was **not** what he'd been expecting! He had wanted an apology, to be swept off his feet. Not to talk about the bloody tournament!

"Well..." Cedric paused, having the decency to look uncomfortable at the tone of Harry's voice. "Take a bath, ok?"

"What? Why, do I smell?"

"Just take a bath Harry. And – er – take the egg with you, and – er – just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think...trust me."

Harry just stared at him. _Not bloody likely._

"Tell you what, use the Prefect's bathroom, on the fifth floor to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered, remember? The password's still 'pine fresh'," then seeing a large group of fourth year girls coming up the stairs behind him Cedric spoke a little louder and gave him a grin. "Gotta go...want to say goodnight."

Without another word the boy hurried down the stairs back to Cho.

Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. What strange advice from his boyfriend. Did he mean it? Why would a bath help him to figure out what the wailing egg meant? Or was he just pulling his leg? That didn't seem like Cedric...but neither did leaving him alone all night.

The Fat Lady and her friend Violet were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole and he had bellow the password before he woke them up; and when he did both were very irritated with him. The side effects of a hangover he assumed. He climbed into the common room when the door swung open and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart they were yelling at each other across the room, each scarlet in the face.

"Well if you don't like it, you know what the solution is don't you?" Hermione shrieked, her hair was coming down from its elegant bun and her face was screwed up in anger.

"Oh yeah? What's that!"

"Next time there's a ball; ask me before someone else, and not as a last resort!"

Ron mouthed silently like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girl's staircase to bed. The redhead turned on him suddenly, still red in the face and looking taken aback.

"Well," he spluttered, "well – that proves – completely missed the point –"

"I'm going to see Cedric, Ron," Harry said and started up the stairs to their dorm with a small sigh, begging whatever God there was that his friends would keep him out of this argument. "I'll be back later, don't wait up for me."

Leaving Ron in the common room to seethe Harry changed into a pair of jeans and the newly knitted jumper Mrs Weasley had made him, placing the snitch in his pocket, and picked up the bulky present on his bed before tossing his invisibility cloak over himself. Sneaking past Ron was easy because the boy seemed to have followed him up the stairs and gone straight into the bathroom and the dark haired boy made his way silently to the classroom.

Cedric was waiting anxiously just inside, pacing back and forth still in his dress robes and turned expectantly to the door as it opened. Pulling the cloak off of himself Harry forced a small smile and placed it, and the present on a nearby desk in time for the older boy to cross the room and embrace him.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't think you'd – "

"It's alright. I was being silly; just because I had a miserable evening doesn't mean you had to. It was childish to think you would mope around, and Cho's lovely. I'm not surprised you had fun."

Placing his hands either side of Harry's face Cedric shook his head and smiled, placing a gentle kiss to his lips. "No, I understand. I would have felt the same if you'd been dancing with Hermione...Or Ron's sister." His eyes flickered to the large parcel behind Harry and smiled quietly, brushing his thumbs over the boy's cheeks. "That my present?"

Harry grinned and nodded turning to pick it up and hand it to the older boy, "Merry Christmas, Cedric."

The older boy beamed and made quick work of the sparkly silver paper, letting it pool at his feet as looked down at the satchel in his hands. He, much like Harry earlier didn't speak, and instead ran his hands over the soft fabric; his finger's tracing the gold C.D on the flap. "I...Harry..."

"Its dragon hide...But the softer underbelly I think. Ron's brother Charlie helped me get it; I mean he works with them. Look inside."

Frowning Cedric silently opened the bag and shook his head, breaking into a disbelieving smile. There was a three ink bottles at the bottom, two black, one blue and a stack of parchment tied together with a black ribbon; and there, on the top was a long box, and he thought he already knew what was inside. Harry took the bag for him as he pulled it out and quietly took off the lid, gasping at the fire red quill resting on the padding and the gold point of the nib.

"Phoenix feather," Harry said softly and grinned up at him. "You told me I owed you a new bag...And I did break your other quills and ink."

With a squeak Harry felt a hand wrap around his wrist and was tugged forward, the bag placed gently on the floor next to them. "You shouldn't have, Harry. This must have cost you a fortune."

"No more so than the music box must have cost you," he countered and smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to his chin. They were both too tired for much more, and he could already feel the faint prickling behind his eyes that he usually got when he needed to sleep. They remained like that, both holding each other, for a long while, until Cedric interrupted the silence.

"Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"Would you dance with me?"

Smiling Harry pulled away and looked up at the stormy grey eyes staring down at him with nothing but affection. How could he say no? Nodding he pulled the snitch from his pocket and turned, placing it on the desk and opening it, letting the quiet melody wash over them before the older boy pulled him back.

Wrapping his arms around Cedric's neck Harry leant forward and rested his head on his shoulder, enjoying the way his boyfriend cradled the back of his head with one hand and gently pressed him to his body with the other. This was perfect.

It didn't matter that half an hour ago he'd been furious at Cedric for not paying him any attention in front of everyone else. What did it matter how everyone else saw them?

They knew, and that was what mattered. It was how Cedric behaved in private that defined them, and this right here...this was what he had wanted. And he had got it. The best present he could have been given.

"Cedric?"

"Yeah."

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Harry."

Fate seemed to have decided to make it up to him. And it was about time too.

"Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"I...I think I love you."

They both stilled for a moment before Harry sighed and turned his face into the front of Cedric's robes, fingers brushing the back of his neck.

"I think I do too."

He didn't have to look up to know Cedric was smiling.

And without either of them saying another word the older boy continued to gently rock them back and forth to the gentle sounds of the music box behind them. And for once Harry was certain that he could never be happier than he was right now.


	18. Chapter Fourteen

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm trying desperately to keep my promise to update a little quicker than usual, so here's the next chapter, the second task and a few moments in between that kind of solidify Harry and Cedric's growing relationship. If I were you I really wouldn't be expecting that much more smut as such for a little while more, perhaps the odd little kiss that develops into heavy petting but nothing more. After all the two boys _are_ in a competition that, if they're not careful, could kill them. I'd also like to take a moment to thank you all for your patience and understanding over my disappearance; I really will try not to let it happen again. As I said on my profile 'News feed' I want to get this project out of the way before I move for uni.

I hope you enjoy.

=3

* * *

**The Second Task**

As Harry had no idea how long a bath he would need to figure out the clue inside the golden egg, he decided to do it at night, when he would be able to take as much time as he wanted. He was a little reluctant to accept the information that Cedric had given him, because he wanted to figure out the whole egg thing on his own, but he was slowly running out of time and he didn't want to just turn up at the second task and be the only one who didn't know what he was doing. So he'd decided to take up the offer and use the Prefect's bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in there and so he had less of a chance of being disturbed. Not to mention he doubted any Prefects would be bathing at eleven o'clock at night.

Harry planned his night time excursion carefully, because he had been caught out of bed and out of bounds by Filch the caretaker before, and he had no intentions of repeating the whole ugly experience. The Invisibility Cloak would of course be essential, and as an extra precaution he decided to take the Marauder's Map as well, so he could see if either the wheezy old Squib or his beloved, but foul-tempered, cat were skulking about anywhere near him. Not to mention Peeves wouldn't hesitate to drop him straight into trouble should the pesky poltergeist float by him.

On Thursday night, Harry sneaked up to bed and pulled the curtains, then put on the cloak and crept back downstairs. Ron was waiting outside of the Fat Lady's portrait and opened the door for him, offering his fellow Gryffindor and small smile and a whispered 'good luck' before they both went their separate ways. The journey had been all together very awkward, with the heavy egg tucked under one arm and the map held in front of his face with the other; though the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map frequently he was able to avoid running into anyone he didn't want to. Including his patrolling boyfriend three or four floors below.

He made it to the bathroom without a hitch and in no time he was in front of the door to the bathroom and he mumbled the password quietly. The door creaked open and Harry slipped inside, bolting the door behind him before pulling the invisibility cloak from his head. A small shudder slipped down his back as he looked around, memories about their last encounter flooding back. And now he wasn't being distracted by his scantily dressed boyfriend he realized he'd missed some of the small details; like the long white linen curtains hanging over the windows or the stack of fluffy white towels and, of course, a large picture frame dominating the wall at the back. It featured a pretty blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair fluttering over her face every time she snored.

"Charming," Harry mumbled sarcastically and set about turning on the five nearest taps. He could help but think that maybe Cedric was having him on, or would maybe appear in a few moments and tell him he'd been waiting for him. Then maybe some fun time would ensue and they'd forget everything about the silly egg. After all, how could a bath help him solve the mysteries of the egg? When the deep pool was full of hot water, foam and bubbles (which took a surprisingly short amount of time considering its size) Harry turned off the taps and pulled off his pyjamas, slippers and dressing gown before slipping into the water.

As highly enjoyable as it was to swim in the hot and foamy water with clouds of different coloured streams wafting about him, no stroke of brilliance came to him. No sudden burst of understanding.

Harry stretched out his arms and lifted the egg in his wet hands, opening it. The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as ear splitting as usual. He snapped the device shut quickly worrying that the sound would attract Filch; it was now blaringly obvious that Cedric had meant this piece of information to be advice and that he was just being very dim-witted. And then, making him jump so badly that he dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke.

"I'd try putting it _in_ the water, if I were you."

The Gryffindor had swallowed a considerable amount of bubbles and water in shock, and standing, spluttering, he saw the ghost of a very glum looking girl sitting cross-legged on top of one of the taps. It was Moaning Myrtle, who could usually been heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet three floors below.

"Myrtle!" Harry hissed in outrage and, though he'd later deny it, tossed an arm over his chest and sunk a little lower into the water to hide himself – a very feminine thing to do. "I'm not wearing anything!"

The foam was so dense that it hardly mattered, but he had a nasty feeling that the ghost girl had been spying on him from out of one of the taps since he arrived. But then...Harry's blood ran cold for a moment; what if she'd seen him with Cedric? And from the coy smile she was giving him he knew he couldn't be far off.

"I closed my eyes when you got in," she said blinking at him through her large thick glasses. "You haven't been to see me in _ages_."

"Yeah...well..." Harry paused and bent his knees slightly to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but his head. "I'm not supposed to go into your bathroom am I? It's a girls' one."

"You didn't used to care," the girl bemoaned and folded her translucent arms with a scowl. "You used to be in there all the time."

This was true...But only because Harry, Ron and Hermione had found the second floor toilets the most convenient place to brew Polyjuice Potion in secret. The red head had said at the time that he had his suspicions that Myrtle liked Harry, and not in the platonic way. One comment she'd made stood out in particular: _"If you die you're more than welcome to share my toilet."_

It was by far the strangest and most vile flirtatious line he'd ever heard. Not that he'd heard many.

"I got told off for going in there," Harry lied easily, referring vaguely to the time Percy had caught him coming out of the bathroom. "I thought I'd better not come back after that."

"Oh...I see...I thought it might have had something to do with your new boyfriend," said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her chin in a morose sort of way. The look became a sly grin when Harry stared at her, mouth agape as his fears were realised. She'd seen them...explore each other? "Don't worry Harry, I thought it was sexy."

The horror on his face sent the girl into a fit of giggles, and he was starkly reminded why he'd gone off of girls. Cedric didn't giggle. He chortled...kind of. Actually he more smiled or laughed, never anything in between – perhaps the odd chuckle but –

"Well...anyway...I'd try the egg in the water. That's what Cedric Diggory did."

"Have you been spying on him too!" Harry hissed indignantly, too angry to care that most of his chest was on show. "What d'you do? Sneak up here in the evenings to watch the Prefects take baths?"

"Sometimes."

Harry glared at her and she rolled her eyes at him.

"They never know I'm here. I've never come out to anyone before."

"I'm honoured," Harry said darkly and turned to the side, casting her a warning glower. "Keep your eyes shut."

He made sure Myrtle had her glasses well covered before hoisting himself out of the bath, wrapping the towel firmly around his waist and went to collect the egg from under the sinks.

Once he was back in the water, Myrtle peered through her fingers and said excitedly, "Go on then...open it under the water!"

Harry tentatively lowered the egg beneath the foaming surface, as if worried it would break – maybe it wasn't waterproof? But this time when he turned the catch it didn't wail; instead a gurgling song bubbled its way to the surface – a song whose words he couldn't distinguish.

"You need to put your head under too," Myrtle interjected, breaking his concentration and appeared to be enjoying bossing him about. "Go on."

The Gryffindor took a great big breath and slid into the depths of the bath – and now sitting on the marble bottom he heard a chorus of eerie voices singing at him in perfect harmony from the open egg in his hands:

'_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground._

_And while you're searching, ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_To recover what we took._

_But past an hour – the prospect's black_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'_

Harry let himself float back upwards and broke the bubbly surface, shaking his hair out of his eyes while he thought over what he'd just heard. Something he'll sorely miss?

"Hear it?"

"Yeah...'Come seek us where our voices sound..." and if I need persuading...hang on I need to listen again..." without another word Harry sunk back beneath the water.

It took three more underwater excursions before Harry had memorised the song the egg sung; then he trod water for a while mulling it over while Myrtle sat and watched him. He had to stop himself from snapping at her because her merely sitting at staring was making him uncomfortable and near impossible to think. But he decided he may need her should he run out of ideas.

"I've got to look for people who can't use their voices above the ground..." he said slowly, more to himself than the girl now rolling about the floor. "Who could that be..."

"Slow, aren't you?"

"If that's all the help you're going to be – "

"Alright, alright. Don't get tetchy."

He had never seen Moaning Myrtle look so cheerful, apart from the day Hermione had given her a hair face and the tail of a cat.

Harry stared around the bathroom thinking...if the voices could only be heard underwater then it made sense for them to belong to underwater creatures. Thinking he was on the right track he ran his theory by Myrtle, who smirked at him.

"Well, that's what Diggory thought," she said, making Harry grind his teeth; his aname was **Cedric**. "He lay there talking to himself for ages about it. Ages and ages...nearly all the bubbles had gone..."

"Underwater," Harry said softly and after a moment's silence he looked up at Myrtle and frowned. "What lives in the lake? Apart from the giant squid I mean?"

"Oh all sorts," the ghost said brightly and rolled onto her stomach, resting her chin in her hands. "I sometimes go there...Sometimes I don't have any choice, if someone flushes my toilet when I'm not expecting it..."

Trying not to think about Myrtle zooming down a pipe to the lake with the contents of a toilet, Harry said, "Well, does anything in their have human voices? Hang on – "

Harry's eyes had fallen on the picture of the snoring mermaid on the wall. "Myrtle, there aren't _merpeople_ in there, are there?"

"Ooooh, very good," she said, thick glasses twinkling. "It took Diggory much longer than that! And that was with her awake, too – " the girl jerked her head towards the mermaid with distain and pulled a face – "giggling and showing off and flashing her fins..."

"That's it...The second task's to go and find the merpeople in the lake and...and..."

But he suddenly realised what he was saying and he felt the excitement disappear as if he'd been doused with cold water. He wasn't a very good swimmer; he'd never had much practise. Dudley had had lessons in their youth but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, no doubt hoping he would drown one day, hadn't bothered to give him any. A couple of lengths of this bath was all very well but that lake was large and very, very deep...and merpeople would surely live right at the bottom...

"Myrtle," Harry asked finally, "how am I supposed to _breathe_?"

At this the girl's eyes flooded with tears and she was sobbing into the sleeve of her robes. "Tactless!"

"Er...What's tactless?"

"Talking about **breathing** in front of me! When you know I can't! I haven't in ages..."

Rather too late Harry remembered how touchy Myrtle had always been about being dead, but none of the other ghosts he knew made such a fuss about it. In fact some of them simply carried on their lives – Nearly Headless Nick for instance. "Sorry," he said impatiently and placed the egg on the side. "I didn't mean – I just forgot – "

"Oh, yes! Very easy to forget Myrtle's dead! Nobody missed me, even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body – I should know I was there waiting for them – "

Harry wasn't listening. Instead he was thinking about the merpeople's song again. _'We've taken what you'll sorely miss'._ He really didn't like that line. They were going to steal something that was dear to him and he'd have to get it back...But what would they take?

"- and then she just had to get the Ministry of Magic involved to stop me from stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet."

"Good," Harry muttered vaguely and rested his hands on the edge. "Well, I'm a lot further than I was...shut your eyes again, I'm getting out."

Climbing out he dried himself off and pulled on his pyjamas and dressing gown, towel drying his hair as Myrtle watched him solemnly from her position near the bath. The bath in question seemed to have noticed he'd left it and wouldn't be coming back because the suds and water was slowly draining from it.

"Will you come visit me in my bathroom again sometime?" the ghost asked mournfully as Harry picked up the Invisibility Cloak.

"Er...I'll try," Harry said with a small smile, though privately he vowed he would only be visiting her bathroom again if every other toilet in the castle got blocked. "See you, Myrtle...And thanks for the help."

"Bye, bye," she replied gloomily, and as the dark haired boy swung the cloak onto his shoulders he saw her zoom back up the tap.

To say the rest of his trip to the Common Room had been a disaster would have been an understatement.

* * *

"_Cedric?"_

_Looking down the long expanse of the corridor Harry had just walked into he saw his bronze haired Hufflepuff standing at the end, waving at him and smiling. The older boy gestured for him to come a little closer and Harry was more than happy to do as he was asked; jogging down, his feet hitting the stone with a dull thud that reverberated off the walls. _

_Only...he wasn't getting any closer..._

_In fact he was getting further away without moving a muscle._

'_Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground...'_

_The song from the egg filled the air with the eerie voices, sending his mind into a panic. 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss...'_

_Cedric._

_He had to get to Cedric!_

_Pushing himself to run as fast as he could Harry felt his chest tighten with dismay as Cedric's smile became a look of fear, and he realised why._

_Water was pouring in from the windows down the corridor, the icy water biting his skin as it pooled around their feet, making it all the harder to run._

_It was up to his waist now, burning his flesh with the sheer chill of it and Harry had no choice but to try and swim in the hope of getting to his boyfriend before the dark figures in the water could. Dark figures who had the upper body of a beautiful woman but swam through the water with the precision of a hunting shark._

_Harry took one last deep breath before he was forced under the water, shedding his robes in the hope of loosing extra weight. Cedric was still no nearer and was struggling with the beautiful women, trying to get to him – to Harry. The dark haired boy screamed, though it came out as nothing more than a rush of bubbles and he knew that Cedric was shouting his name back._

_Distantly he heard the toll of the clock tower bells ringing the hour. One. Two. Three. Finally he started to make some progress. Four. Five. Six. But Cedric was still so far away. He would never reach him in time. Seven. Eight. Nine. He watched in horror as the boy's head dropped as, Harry assumed, he ran out air. Ten. Eleven. Now he thought about it his own lungs were burning with the need to breathe, but there was no gap between the water and the ceiling. He had to keep going. Twelve._

_He heard the voices cackling and began to chant. At first Harry couldn't understand what they were saying...Until he saw Cedric being led away into the dark depths of the lake, the weed wrapping around his legs and torso to coil around his neck – squeezing what air that had been in his lungs out. _

'_He's ours! He's ours! Too late! Too late!'_

"NOOO!"

And with one shout, his body dripping with sweat Harry had shot bolt upright and had woken the rest of his room.

* * *

By the evening before the second task Harry felt like he was stuck in his nightmare – though he was fairly sure they wouldn't be able to steal Cedric. Simply because he was another Champion; it would be wrong to cut him out of the running just because he was Harry's most treasured possession. And – as Cedric had told him when he'd confessed his dream to the older boy, Harry was his most treasured possession as well. He was fully aware that if, by some miracle, he **did** find a spell that would help him breathe underwater for an hour that he would have a hard time mastering it overnight. How could he have let this happen? Why hadn't he got to work on the egg's clue sooner? Why had he ever let his mind wander in class – what if a teacher had once mentioned how to breathe underwater?

He, Ron and Hermione sat in the library as the sun set outside, tearing feverishly through page after page of spells, hidden from each other by the massive piles of books either side of them on the desk. Harry's heart gave a huge leap of joy and anticipation every time he saw the word 'water' on a page, only to find _'Take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves and a newt...'_.

"I don't reckon it can be done," Ron yawned from behind the books to his left, voice flat and bored. "There's nothing, _nothing_. Closest thing I found is a spell to dry up puddles and ponds, the Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to dry up the lake."

"I think I might have points deducted if I kill all of the wildlife..."

"There must be something," Hermione muttered and bought a candle closer to her so she could better see the book she was flicking through. Her eyes were so tired from pouring over the tiny print of _Olde and Forgotton Bewitchments and Charms_ with she had her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was impossible."

'They have," Ron groused and leant back in his chair, balancing precariously on the hind two legs. "Harry just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in the water and yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."

"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione hissed crossly, barely refraining from tossing the unhelpful book she was studying at the red head's chair so he'd topple to the ground. She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information as a personal insult – after all it had never failed her before. "There just has to be!"

"I know what I should have done," the dark haired boy mumbled as he rested his face down on _Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts_. "I should've learnt to be an Animagus like Sirius."

"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted," Ron said sarcastically, how helpful would that be for the rest of his life?

"Or a frog," Harry yawned barely picking up on the sarcasm. He was exhausted.

"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," Hermione added irritably, now peering down the index of _Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions._ "Professor McGonagall told us, remember...you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office...what animal you become and your markings, so you can't abuse it..."

"Hermione...I was _joking,_" Harry cut in and shook his head, thankful she couldn't see him past the growing mountain of books. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning..."

"Oh! This is no use!" the bushy haired girl hissed and snapped the book shut. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"

"I wouldn't mind," Fred Weasley's voice interjected jovially, "It'd be a talking point wouldn't it?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked up from their books to see the twins peering round one of the bookcases before stepping out.

"What're you two doing here?"

"Looking for you," George answered and ruffled his younger brother's hair roughly. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."

The girl frowned and looked between Ron, Harry and the twins before speaking, "Why?"

"Dunno," both boys said in chorus before Fred continued. "She was looking a little grim though."

"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George finished and watched as both his brother and Hermione turned to look at Harry, the latter of whom looked like he was about to be sick. Was Professor McGonagall about to tell Ron and Hermione off? Perhaps she'd noticed how much they were helping him, when he ought to be working on the tasks alone?

"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Ron – both of them looking anxious about what was to come. "Bring as many of these books as you can, Ok?"

"Right..."

By eight o'clock Madame Price had extinguished all of the lamps and came to usher Harry out of the library. Staggering under the weight of the books he'd managed to pile up in his arms, the dark haired Gryffindor made his way back to the common room. Dumping the books onto one of the large sofas he dragged a table into the corner and quickly transferred the books to it and continued to search. There was nothing in _Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks_...nothing in _A Guide to Medieval Sorcery_...not one mention of underwater exploits in _An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms_, or in _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep,_ or _Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do With Them Now You've Wised Up_.

Crookshanks crawled into Harry's lap and curled up, purring deeply. The common room emptied slowly around him; people who wished him luck for the next morning in cherry, confident voices like Hagrid's. All of them seemed to be convinced that he was about to pull off another stunning performance like the one he'd managed in the first task. Harry couldn't answer them; he just forced a small smile and nodded, feeling as though there was a golf-ball stuck in his throat. By ten to midnight he was alone in the room with Crookshanks, and he had searched through all of the books he'd bought from the library and Ron and Hermione had not come back.

Unable to find the information he needed from the books he had he hurried up the spiral staircase to collect the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk and snuck to the library to continue the search. Only occasionally did Harry look at his watch between flicking through books by the thin beam of light from his wand...

One in the morning...Two in the morning...the only way he could keep going was to tell himself over and over again: _Next book...in the next one...the next one..._

* * *

"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!"

"Stop poking me..."

"Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes. He was still in the library; the cloak had slipped down off his head as he'd slept and the side of his face was stuck to the pages of _Where There's a Wand, There's a Way_. He sat up, straightening his glasses and blinking in the bright light before turning his bleary gaze on Dobby – who was now hopping anxiously from foot to foot.

"Harry Potter needs to hurry!" Dobby squeaked. "The second task starts in ten minutes, and Harry Potter – "

"Ten minutes?" Harry croaked and all but jumped to his feet, knocking the books off the desk. "Ten – _ten_ minutes?"

Looking down at his watch the dark haired boy all but hissed, Dobby was right. It was twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Harry's chest into his stomach.

"Hurry, Harry Potter! You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!"

"It's too late, Dobby," Harry said hopelessly and reached down to collect the cloak from the floor. "I'm not doing the task, I don't know how – "

"Harry Potter _will_ do the task!" squeaked the elf, tugging at Harry's sleeve. "Dobby knew Harry had not found the right book, so Dobby did it for him!"

"What? But you don't know what the second task is – "

"Dobby knows, sir! Harry Potter has to go into the lake to find his Wheezy – "

Harry frowned, pausing it what he'd been doing to look at the small house elf in confusion. "My what?"

" – and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople!"

"Dobby. What's a Wheezy?"

"Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy! Wheezy who gave Dobby his jumper, sir!"

Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts. Wheezy...he was talking about...

"They've got Ron?"

"The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!" Dobby squealed, nearly hysterical now. "And past the hour – "

" – _the prospect's black,_" Harry finished and stared horror-struck for a moment at the ground before looking up at Dobby. "_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back..._Dobby, what've I got to do?"

"You has to eat this, sir!" Dobby explained quickly and pulled from his shorts a ball of what appeared to be slimy, greyish green rat tails. "Right before you go into the lake, sir. Gillyweed!"

Staring down at the...Gillyweed in his hands Harry forced himself not to gag, though he was sure he'd gone a delightful shade of pale. "What's it do?"

"It will make Harry Potter breathe underwater, sir!"

"Dobby...listen – are you sure about this?" He couldn't quite forget what had happened the last time the elf had tried to 'help' him...It had left him in the Hospital Wing with no bones. He most definitely did not want a repeat performance.

"Dobby is quite sure, sir! But can't explain now, sir. We must go! Dobby couldn't let Harry Potter loose his Wheezy but I is meant to be in the kitchens sir, I will be missed! Good luck, sir!"

With a snap of his fingers and a loud crack Dobby was gone, but Harry was already sprinting from the library, stuffing the Gillyweed into his pocket with one hand and the Invisibility Cloak into his bag with the other, praying to God that Dobby's plan worked and he wasn't too late to see.

* * *

The task had been...a complete failure. He'd been too much of an idiot and had taken the threat of the merpeople too seriously and had come last as a result. Harry was being quizzed by Hermione and Ron, asking him if it had taken him a long time to find them all and he could tell Cedric was listening not far off to hear the reason for his stupidity; but he couldn't bring himself to answer. Instead he turned to watch what everyone else was doing.

Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what appeared to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made above the water; apparently Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up and turned to his fellow judges before saying, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."

The judges went into a huddle and Madam Pomfrey who had been fussing over him for the last five or so minutes went to retrieve Ron from Percy's grasp; leading him over to the rest of them, gave him a blanket and some Pepper-Up potion. As soon as she went to tend to Fleur, who had a number of nasty looking cuts on her face and arms, the girl forced her sister into the woman's arms and turned to Harry.

"You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."

"Yeah," Harry acknowledged, wishing he'd left all three girls tied to the statue and had just taken Ron and left.

Fleur bent down and kissed Harry twice on each cheek; his face was burning, and he had to stubbornly remind himself that it was only because she was part Veela. He could see Cedric a few feet behind her glowering at Fleur's back until Cho turned his attention back to her, though Harry could still see his boyfriend sending the blonde disgruntled glares.

"And you – you 'elped," Fleur continued, turning to Ron as if amazed that she had been wrong in deeming him below her.

"Yeah," Ron said quietly, looking hopeful as he shifted anxiously. "Yeah a little bit."

Fleur swooped down on him and kissed him as well, leaving Hermione looking between the red head and the blonde furiously, ignoring Viktor's attempts to start up another conversation. But just then Ludo Bagman's voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump and causing the crowd in the stands to fall silent.

All four champions got to their feet and stood in a line, Cedric brushing Harry's hand with his sodden robes. Both boys looked at each other for a moment and smiled, then to make the action look more normal Harry sent both Fleur and Krum smaller smiles; the former beaming back at him and the latter simply nodded.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Mer-chieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions as follows...

"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal and as such failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty points."

Polite applause broke out from the stands behind them and Harry joined them, prompting another small smile from the girl. "I deserved zero," she said dejectedly, shaking her head and causing her hair to ripple down her back.

"Mr Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head charm was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside of the hour time limit." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowds drowned out Bagman for a moment, and Harry was pleased to say he was clapping with them – in fact so was Fleur, only Viktor remained as sullen as ever. "We therefore award him forty-seven points," Bagman roared.

Despite being elated that his boyfriend had done as well as he had Harry felt his heart sink in his chest. If Cedric had been outside of the time limit, he most certainly had been.

"Mr Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, jerking his chin in Krum's direction – who again, simply nodded.

"Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour; however the Mer-chieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages and the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."

Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks, and he could feel Cedric's gaze on his face. He already knew that he would be looking at him in sympathy and pride; though why the boy was proud of him he would never understand.

Well...he hadn't died. He guessed that was something to be proud of.

"Most of the judges" – and here Bagman gave Karkaroff a blistering look – "feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However...Mr Potter's score is forty-five points."

Harry's stomach leapt – he was now tying for first place with Cedric...his pretty-boy, perfect Prefect boyfriend! Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at him for a moment then laughed and started applauding hard alongside Cedric, Fleur and the rest of the crowd.

"There you go Harry!" Ron bellowed over the noise, grinning wildly. "You weren't being thick after all – you were showing moral fibre!"

"The third and final task will take place at Dusk on the twenty-forth of June. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

It was over; Harry though dazedly as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes and suddenly a hand was in his own. Looking in up in surprise at Cedric the boy looked around, but there were hidden by Ron, Hermione and Cho and he smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Well done, Potter," Cedric said quietly, smiling down at him as he brushed his thumb over the smooth skin beneath his.

"Well done yourself."

For a moment they fell silent and then, when it was no longer safe to continue holding hands in case they were seen, the Hufflepuff leant down to whisper something in his ear. "I want to take you out on a date, Harry. Next time we go to Hogsmeade, come with me?"

Without thinking Harry nodded vigorously, and light headed and delirious with adrenaline and joy he watched Cedric stride forward to catch up with Cho.

Perhaps when they went he could buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day of the year. The little house elf most certainly deserved it.


	19. Chapter Fifteen

**Author's Note:** Oh my God, that last chapter was such a beast to write. x] Not only was it boring (sorry about that by the way) but it didn't seem to want to end, hence my somewhat abrupt cut off with parts missing. I'm glad that you're all sticking with me through the boring stuff, but hopefully this chapter has the opportunity to redeem the last couple I've written, it promises in my head to be decent at least, but we'll see. This chapter is another massive chunk that I couldn't bring myself to miss, someone mentioned last chapter that its very much Goblet Of Fire rewritten, which is how I wanted it; in my own style with my own take on the characters and the relationships within the book. However on a brighter note it's almost over! We're finally getting to the part of the book I've wanted to write since I started this fiction – the final task. =] Won't say anymore I don't want to give anything away though I am getting somewhat frighten by all the threats that revolve around Cedric dying. x] Ya'll just to wait and see. Also you're lucky I got this finished tonight, tomorrow's my birthday! xD

Hope you enjoy this chapter it was actually quite fun to write! Ttfn. Ta ta for now! =3

* * *

**Meeting Padfoot**

One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details about what had happened at the bottom of the lake, which meant for once Ron was getting to share Harry's limelight. Only now did he realise how boring it must have been for everyone to watch an empty lake for over an hour...he'd have to ask Neville what everyone did to pass the time. However, Harry noticed that Ron's version of events changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione's tale at least – Dumbledore had put all of the hostages into a bewitched sleep in McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe and would awake when they were above the water once more. One week later though and Ron was telling everyone about his thrilling kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty or so heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up.

"But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," he assured Padma Patil who seemed to be a lot keener of Ron now that he was getting so much attention and was making a point of talking to him every time she passed him in the corridors. "I could have taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."

"What were you going to do? Snore at them?" Hermione jabbed waspishly and went back to her book; people had been teasing her about being the thing that Viktor Krum would miss the most and she had been in a rather tetchy mood for a couple of days.

Ron's ears went bright red and he reverted back to the bewitched sleep version of events for fear of being shown up by the girl again.

Cedric on the other hand, who had taken to hanging out with Ron and Hermione as much as he did his own friends, had enjoyed the red head's fabricated story immensely, and had questioned him teasingly about the fighting styles of merpeople. "So...there were twenty spear holders and about thirty swordsmen...I'm impressed, Ron; considering I've never saw a merperson with a sword down there, they all carried spears," he mocked gently, Harry between his legs and leaning against his chest while reading through his Potions homework.

"Oh bog off, Cedric," Ron muttered, going red again and he scrunched up a piece of parchment and tossed it at the Hufflepuff - ducking his head into his book when it bounced off of Harry's head. However even Hermione couldn't help but join the two boy's laughter when Harry peered over the top of his parchment and glowered in Ron's direction, only to placated when Cedric kissed the spot that had been attacked.

"I give up!" the Gryffindor champion hissed suddenly and tossed the work onto the floor in front of him, folding his arms and pouting. He almost shushed back at Miss Price when she poked her head round a bookcase to reprimand him for his sudden outburst, sending a disapproving look in him and Cedric's direction. They didn't care so much about her seeing them; she'd already caught them molesting each other in the furthest parts of the library and had promised not to say a word as long as they didn't do it again. Both boys held up their hands as if to prove they had just been sitting and Harry was shocked to see her half smile before skulking away.

"I can't do it; none of what I wrote makes sense!"

Cedric leant round him and rolled his eyes, snatching up his boyfriend's homework and pulled a pencil from his bag next to him. "Lemme have a look, it can't be that bad..." After a moment or so of checking even the Hufflepuff was frowning, scribbling furiously to alter any mistakes, mumbling something about horsefly wings, not dragonfly wings.

It took the older boy a good five minutes before he handed the much changed homework and smiled down at him. "There, copy that out tonight and you should get good marks on it."

"I love you so much right now," Harry grinned and leant up to press his lips to the prefect's in a chaste kiss, throwing the parchment ball from before in Ron's direction when he heard the red head dry retching behind them.

"You still coming to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?"

"Of course," the dark haired boy chuckled and rolled up the parchment, placing it in his bag.

"Harry...You were going to go and see...you know, on Saturday," Hermione hissed suddenly, her bushy head poking up from behind her book, looking shiftily between her friend and the Hufflepuff.

Harry's heart sunk; he'd forgotten all about Sirius coming back...he'd been so caught up in his own life. He couldn't tell Cedric. He trusted him with his life, but he couldn't expect his godfather to; perhaps one day he could introduce them to each other; Cedric as his boyfriend and Sirius as his godfather and not the psychotic mass murder he was billed to be. Now he thought about it he had no idea how the Black would react to his sudden sexual change; the man had always spoken to him about girls. Probably under the assumption that Harry liked them.

"Is this another something I can't know about?" Cedric asked glumly, all but deflating behind him and watched as Harry sighed.

Nodding the dark haired boy turned to look at his boyfriend with a small apologetic smile. "I'm afraid so, Cedric...I need to ask, but as soon as I do and I get the go ahead, I'll tell you...I'll tell you everything about what happened last year right from the beginning. We might still be able to go out for a little bit? If you still want to?"

"Five minutes of your time is all I need, more would be preferable but I understand that I'm going out with a busy guy with lots of secrets," the Hufflepuff said quietly and pressed a quick kiss to Harry's forehead before getting up and tugged his bag onto his shoulder. "Just let me know tomorrow so I know whether or not to tell my friends I am or I'm not going."

Harry didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Cedric was putting on a brave compassionate and very understanding face for him and he had to refrain from shouting at Hermione for bringing it up when the older boy had been around...And she called Ron tactless.

* * *

As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went outside into the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course; the brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way. No sooner had he removed Sirius' replay from the twine around its leg the owl took flight, clearly afraid that it was going to be sent outside again.

His godfather's reply was almost as short as the previous one.

_Be as stile end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish & Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can._

Two o'clock...He could still see Cedric in the morning and then he could hang out with his friends for the rest of the day. It was the perfect set up, he just needed to find his boyfriend to tell him – apparently he had been right when he'd had the feeling Cedric had been upset by the lack of information because now Cho was glowering at him in the same way she often did at the Hufflepuff when he'd misbehaved.

"Surely he hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked incredulously, drawing Harry back into the conversation.

"Looks like it, doesn't it?" Hermione answered with a shrug, and turned to look at the dark haired boy to her left as if expecting Harry to say something. It was about now that he realised how stupid and reckless his godfather was being.

"I can't believe him," he hissed tensely. "If he's caught..."

"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" Ron said almost gently as if trying to calm his friend down. "And it's not like the place in swarming with Dementors anymore."

With a sigh Harry folded up the letter, thinking. If he was honest he really wanted to see Sirius again. He wanted to tell him about Cedric and give him the go ahead to tell his boyfriend about him; they were both big parts of his life, he didn't want them to not know about each other. There may come a time when they met...

After finding Cho and relaying his message for her to give to Cedric Harry spent the rest of the day planning what he and Cedric were going to do the next morning; and each idea put him in an even better mood. He therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon – double Potions – feeling considerably more cheerful than he usually did when descending into the dungeons.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls; all of whom were huddled around something Harry couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as the trio of Gryffindors approached.

"There they are, there they are!" she giggled and the knot of Slytherins broke apart, allowing Harry a good look at what the ugly girl had clasped in her hand. It was a magazine – _Witch Weekly_ – with the picture of a pretty curly-haired witch on the front cover grinning toothily and pointing her wand at a large sponge cake.

"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy declared loudly and she threw the magazine at Hermione who caught it, looking startled. At that moment the dungeon door open and Snape beckoned them inside.

He and Cedric left the castle at half past ten the next morning to find a weak silver sun shining down on the grounds; the weather was milder than it had been all year and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade they had both taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had requested was in his bag – unbeknownst to Cedric who had gasped at the weight of it when offering to help Harry take of his cloak – they had snuck a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.

They both spent the morning ambling about and talking about their respective experiences in the lake, looking like two champions who had simply gotten to know each other better. They went into Zonko's Joke Shop where they were both accosted by Fred and George, who thankfully released them promptly with a wink from George, then into Honeydukes Sweetshop where Harry bought Cedric a large bag of Bertie Botts, which they both knew was an apology of sorts for ditching him later on. Cedric dragged in into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop for some more parchment and ink and finally they stopped in Gladrags Wizardwear so Harry could buy a present for Dobby. They had a fun selection of the most lurid socks Harry had ever seen and it had taken them both forever to pick their favourites (Cedric had decided he wanted to thank Dobby as well once he'd found out what exactly the little house elf had done); finally picking a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly.

At about quarter to one they walked the Three Broomsticks where Harry had promised to meet Ron and Hermione and where Cedric had told him his friends would be meeting him at about half past one. The two Gryffindors were already there so they all sat and had a Butterbeer before they had to leave. Harry somewhat reluctantly bid his boyfriend goodbye and promised to meet up with him later on today and together he, Ron and Hermione made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Bangs and out towards the edge of the village.

Harry had never been in this direction before; the winding land was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here and the gardens larger; they were walking towards the foot of the mountain in whose shadow the village lay and when they turned the corner they saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them ins front paws on the topmost bar was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth, and looked very familiar...

"Hello Sirius," Harry greeted bright once they had reached him and laughed as the dog sniffed his bag eagerly, wagged his tail once and then turned, trotting away from them across the scrubby patch of ground which rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed over the stile without a word and followed.

Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks; but it was easy for him, with his four paws, but the three of them were soon out of breath. They followed him higher for nearly half an hour only lead by Sirius' wagging tail, sweating in the sun and shoulder strap of Harry's satchel cutting into his shoulder.

Then, at last the large dog slipped out of sight and when they reached the place he'd vanished they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. Squeezing into it Harry looked round the low ceilinged, cool dimly lit cave; tethered to the end of it with one long rope around his neck, was Buckbeak and his fierce yellow eyes flashed at the sight of them. All three of them bowed low to the proud animal and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Harry on the other hand was staring at the dog which had just turned into his godfather.

Sirius was wearing ragged grey robes, the some ones he'd escaped from Azkaban in and his black hair was longer than it had been when he'd appeared in the Common Room fireplace and was matted and unruly once more. He looked awfully thin.

"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old _Daily Prophets _from his mouth and tossed them aside. Taking the bundle of food from Harry gratefully the man mumbled a quick word of thanks and tore into the meat feverously with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly – " he said in between mouthfuls – "can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw too much attention to myself."

Pausing in his rush for food Sirius grinned up at Harry, and he only reluctantly returned it, causing the man to frown.

"What're you doing here Sirius? It's not that I'm not glad to see you, but – "

"I'm fulfilling my duty as godfather," the ragged man interrupted, gnawing on the bone in a very dog-like manner. "Don't worry about me; I'm pretending to be a loveable stray."

He attempted another grin but seeing the anxiety still of Harry's face he added more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter...well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws it out, and by the looks of things I'm not the only one who's getting worried."

He nodded at the yellowing papers on the floor and Ron picked them up and unfolded them, flicking through the headlines.

Harry however was still staring at Sirius. Why were grownups so reckless? He had more common sense than most of them. "What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"

"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones round here who know I'm an Animagus," the man said with a shrug and devoured another chicken leg.

"Hey, listen to this," Ron piped up, flattening the paper on his lap. "_Ministry Witch Still Missing – Minister for Magic Now Personally Involved_."

"Yes, well we haven't really had any disappearances since You-Know-Who was still about. I'm not surprised the Minister's getting involved. Carry on Ron," Sirius mumbled, tossing another bone to Buckbeak who eagerly snapped it up.

"_Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch_...I'll just read the gist...er...house appears deserted...St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies decline comment...Ministry refuses to confirm rumours of critical illness..."

"They're making it sound like he's dying," Harry said slowly, looking between the three others with a frown. "But he can't be that ill if he's managed to get up here..."

"My brother's Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius with a roll of his eyes. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."

"Mind you, he _did_ look really ill the last time I saw him up close," Harry added, thinking back to the night this mayhem had all started, taking the paper from Ron to read the article himself. "The night my name came out of the goblet..."

"Getting his comeuppance for sacking poor Winky, isn't he," Hermione hissed tartly, stroking the feathers on Buckbeak's neck who was now crunching up the chicken bones being thrown his way.

"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron muttered to the shaggy man sitting not too far away, casting the girl a dark look.

Sirius however seemed interested in this information, "Crouch sacked his house-elf?"

"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," Harry answered and quickly launched into the the story about the Dark Mark's appearance and Winky being found with Harry's wand in her hand and Mr Crouch's fury. He also spoke a lot about Cedric, hoping the man would ask him who he was, but Sirius didn't. Instead he was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.

"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box, she was saving Crouch a seat right?"

"Right..."

"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"

"No," Harry acknowledged, then continued, "I think he saw he'd been too busy."

Sirius started pacing again in silence and the three teenagers simply sat and waited, expecting some sudden epiphany. However before one could come there was the sound of a mini rock slide and what sounded like footsteps from outside the entrance to the cave and within seconds Sirius had grabbed Ron's wand, which he'd been using as a light to read by and was out in the open sending a stunner at the intruder. Heart in his throat Harry ran out after his godfather just in time to see a head of bronze hair duck behind a large rock to hide.

"No Sirius!" Harry shouted as the man started to say another spell and quickly knocked his arm out of the way. "It's ok."

"Harry?"

Cedric's head popped out from behind the boulder, looking anxiously between him and his godfather, then the Ron and Hermione who had also joined them outside. For a moment neither said anything and the older boy cautiously slipped into the open, face red and gnawing his lower lip.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have followed you, but you went the opposite way to where I thought you were going and I worried...you know I don't thi – " the Hufflepuff's eyes settled on Sirius for a moment and then widened as he took a step back "- Harry you're standing next to -"

"Cedric this is Sirius Black, my godfather."

Harry watched as his boyfriend mouthed the word once or twice and then frowned. It was then that Sirius cleared his throat from behind him.

"Oh, yeah, er, Sirius this is Cedric."

"Right, the boy from the cup, you mentioned him before...And why did he follow you up here?" the man ground out, Ron's wand still in his grasp and eyeing the new comer in a way that let everyone know that if Harry hadn't have stopped him he would have been Obliterated by now and back at the bottom of the mountain. He didn't trust him.

"He's..."

"It's ok, Harry you don't have to. I'll just go, I shouldn't have followed you and – "

"Who says you're leaving?"

"Sirius," Hermione squeaked, looking fearfully at the ragged man standing next to Harry. So that was what Azkaban did to you? Made you ready to hex a student should they stumble across where you're hiding?

"Sir, I promise I won't say a thing I know – " Cedric started but was immediately cut off by Sirius who had raised the wand once more. He closed his eyes half expecting to feel a spell hit his square in the chest, instead he felt Harry's back against him with the younger boy glowering at his godfather.

"Sirius stop it!"

"Harry..."

"I trust Cedric with my life, as much as I do Ron and Hermione."

"And how can you be sure he's not going to tell anyone because he's _'worried about you'_?"

"I wouldn't do that!" Cedric snapped suddenly but was once again cut over, but this time by Harry.

"Because he's my boyfriend, Sirius...If I asked him not to he wouldn't do it. I was going to tell you about it today but Cedric...had an early start."

For a moment Sirius stood in dumbfounded silence, wand hanging loosely from his hand before he broke into a grin and chuckled. "Your boyfriend huh? Well, well, well. You always surprise me Harry. But I guess I can accept that as an excuse...for now. If you trust him then I think I can too."

_No wonder they thought he was mad..._

"Sorry about that then, Cedric was it? I can't be too careful you understand."

"Yes, sir..."

"Call me Sirius, I never bought into the whole 'sir' thing. How much do you know about me?" he added before slipping inside the cave once more, signalling for everyone to follow him in.

"Sorry about that," Harry mumbled gloomily and sighed, taking the older boy's hand in his, guiding him into the cave. "Mind your head."

"Don't worry about it...It was just...A bit of a shock. The man who was apparently trying to kill you is your godfather; isn't he a Death Eater though?"

Having not received an answer to his question Sirius decided to answer the question Cedric had asked Harry himself, after all, that meant his godson hadn't told him anything... Which now he thought about it was something he was a little thankful for. It meant the boy respected his privacy. "No. I've never been a Death Eater and I'd rather die than join them. I never betrayed James and Lily Potter and I most certainly don't want Harry dead. The only reason I'm here is because I'm also...worried about him."

"You're going to have to explain this all to me later," Cedric mumbled and quietly sat down, careful to keep his distance from Harry for Sirius' benefit. He didn't want to push his boundaries until he was certain that the older man was ok with it; he was just thankful that Sirius was as accepting as he was, he knew for a fact that his father wouldn't be.

Harry nodded and with an affectionate smile at his godfather settled himself down next to his boyfriend, chuckling as Cedric shifted away from him awkwardly; watching as Sirius handed Ron's wand back. "Does anyone know where we got up to before Siruis nearly blew Ced's head off?"

"We were telling Sirius about Mr Crouch forcing poor Winky to save a seat for him," Hermione answered indignantly, her cheeks blotching red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment when Ron glowered at her and Sirius raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"I remember...What I was going to say when Cedric...turned up," the man said diplomatically, though he could see Harry mumbling 'nearly had his head blown off' under his breath. Grinning he turned his attention to his godson, taking him by surprise. "Harry did you check your pockets for your wand after you left the Top Box?"

Cedric frowned and looked down at his boyfriend who shook his head and answered no, explaining that he hadn't needed his wand until they'd got to the forest. Ah, they were talking about the Quidditch World Cup and about who might have stole Harry's wand and conjured the Dark Mark.

"And then I put my hand in my pocket and all that was in there were my Omnioculars," Harry finished and started at Sirius as his expression became pensive. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"

"It's possible."

"Winky did **not** steal that want!" Hermione screeched and apologised quietly to Buckbeak as he rustled his feathers irritably. He snapped half heartedly at the girl as she attempted to start petting his neck again, but at the pout she gave him he yielded and bowed his large head for her.

"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," Sirius said solemnly and his brow furrowed as he started to pace again, his hands behind his back. "Who else was sitting behind you?"

"Loads of people," Harry mumbled with a shrug, counting them off on his fingers. "Some Bulgarian ministers...Cornelius Fudge...The Malfoys..."

"The Malfoys!" Ron shouted suddenly his voice echoing around the cave, the volume causing Buckbeak to toss his head nervously with a shrill squawk. Covering their ears Hermione, Cedric, Harry and Sirius glowered at the red head, but there was no stopping him. "I bet Lucius Malfoy took it!"

"Anyone else?" Sirius asked quietly, trying to sound like he was taking Ron seriously. They all knew that Lucius wouldn't be so careless as to steal Harry's wand in the Top Box of a major wizarding sports event.

"No one," Harry answered.

"Yes there was, Harry, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him, pausing from her gentle hushing and stroking to try and soothe the Hippogriff now anxiously pawing the ground. He was also sending sharp looks in Ron's direction as if remembering why he hadn't liked him that much.

"Oh yeah..."

"I don't know much about Bagman except that he used to be a beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," Sirius said with a shrug and flopped down next to the bread, pumpkin juice and what was left of the chicken. "What's he like?"

"He's ok," Harry replied slowly, glancing at Cedric who was taking all this in avidly nodding now and then. "He keeps trying to help me with the Tournament..."

"Does he now?" Sirius mused, scratching at the stubble on his chin, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that."

"Says he's taken a liking to me."

"Hmmm." Without another word Sirius picked up the second to last drumstick and tore into it with renewed vigour, chewing furiously as he thought.

Cedric on the other hand seemed to have noticed something completely unrelated to their current dilemma. "So that's why your bag was so heavy?" he asked quietly, eying the food being consumed by his boyfriend's godfather.

Harry nodded with a small smile, "Couldn't let him go hungry could I? Grownups need to be looked after, always need an eye on them."

"I second that," the Hufflepuff chuckled, though he looked a little sheepish when he noticed Sirius was now watching him very carefully. He was almost thankful when Hermione spoke and the man turned his unwavering gaze on her, though it didn't seem to bother her half as much as it did him.

"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared."

"Who?" Ron asked looking up from the paper he'd started to study carefully during the gap in conversation.

"Ludo Bagman!" she hissed in his direction before turning back to Sirius. "He came bowling through the bushes and apparated almost immediately afterwards."

"Yeah, but he went to the campsite didn't he," the red head argued, putting the _Daily Prophet_ down in his lap. "The moment we told him about the riot he went to go help."

"How d'you know," Hermione shot back tartly, scowling at her friend. "How do you know where he Disapperated to?"

"Oh come off it Hermione," snapped Ron incredulously. "Are you telling me you reckon Ludo Bagman – the man who's had one too many bludgers to the head – conjured the Dark Mark?"

"It's more likely he did it than Winky," she sniffed, turning away to pet Buckbeak's plumage.

Pointing wildly in Hermione's direction Ron looked meaningfully at Sirius, "Told you! I told you she's obsessed with house- "

But Sirius held up a hand to silence the boy and shook his head. Harry was secretly glad, he hated it when they both bickered like that, it did his head in. "When the Dark Mark was conjured and the elf had been discovered with Harry's wand what did Crouch do?"

Eager to stop the two teenagers from arguing further Harry answered, "Went to look in the bushes, but there wasn't anyone there."

"But not before trying to pin it us," Cedric added, looking between Harry, Ron and Hermione. "It took a lot of convincing to get him off our case."

"Of course," Sirius muttered, tossing the stripped bone to Buckbeak and got up to resume his pacing. "Of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone else but his own elf...and then he sacked her?"

"Yes," Hermione hissed heatedly, moving away from Buckbeak to sit near Harry and Cedric, "he sacked her just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled – "

"Hermione, give it a rest with the elf already!"

But Sirius shook his head again and waved Ron down, "She's got a better measure of Crouch than you do, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like you take a long good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

"All these absences of Barty Crouch...he goes to the trouble of making sure his house elf saves him a seat and then doesn't turn up...He works very hard to get the Triwizard Tournament reinstated and stops coming to that too...It's not like him. If he'd ever taken a day off work because of illness I'll eat Buckbeak."

The creature in question squawked again, this time a little quieter, and ruffled his feathers. Sirius smiled slightly, "Sorry mate."

"D'you...know Crouch then?" Harry asked.

Sirius' face darkened, and Cedric instinctively pulled Harry into his lap. He suddenly looked as menacing as the night the trio of Gryffindors had met him; the night Harry had still believed him to be a murderer.

"Oh I know Crouch alright..." he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban...without a trial."

"_What?_"

Ron and Hermione straightened up to stare at Sirius with barely contained outrage and Cedric was looking just as scandalized; Harry on the other hand paled and looked down at the ground with a small frown. "You were sent to the Dementors without a trial? I always assumed that – "

"That the evidence against me was overwhelming and that after much debating I was finally found guilty?" Sirius finished grimly and shook his head, flopping down for another chicken wing. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione shook their heads; Cedric was the only one to nod. "My dad mentioned it once," he mumbled in explanation and let Sirius continue.

"He was tipped as the next Minister for Magic. He's a great wizard Barty Crouch, powerfully magical – and a power hungry bastard...Mind my French," Sirius said with a small rueful smile, then seeing the look on Harry's face added, "Oh, never a Voldemort supporter. No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark side...well, you wouldn't understand...you're too young..."

"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," Ron cut across him irritably. "Try us, why don't you?"

A grin flashed across Sirius' thin face and Cedric saw at once why he and Harry were so fond of each other; there was a definite mischief about them both; though it seemed more concentrated in the older man than in his boyfriend. "Alright, I'll try you..."

For a second or so he remained silent, pondering over how to phrase what he wanted to say, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves – killing your entire family for instance and then seeing how you react when you come back to your senses, he did that with four families."

Cedric stared solemnly at Sirius, vaguely aware that Hermione had crept forward to sit next to Ron who now had a comforting arm around her shoulders. However it was when he looked at Harry that he felt the panic in his gut, he'd felt the boy flinch when his godfather had given them an example and he was now staring blankly at the floor. Reaching over the Hufflepuff took his hand and squeezed, forcing a small smile. Thankfully Sirius noticed the signs and quickly continued.

"You're scared for yourself and your family and friends. Every week news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing...the Ministry can't cope under the mass panic and plunges into disarray. They don't know what to do and they're trying desperately to hide it from the Muggles. But meanwhile Muggles and dying to. Terror everywhere. Dread...confusion...anger...that's how it used to be with Voldemort slap bang in the middle causing it all.

"Times like that bring out the best in some people, and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might have been good in the beginning – I wouldn't know, but he climbed through the Ministry like a wildfire through dry grassland. He started issuing harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters; the Aurors were given new powers – powers to kill instead of capture, for instance – " Sirius glazed over the particulars this time and continued, tossing Buckbeak his bone " – and I wasn't the first to be handed straight to the Dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence and authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. While most of us saw that he was being as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark side he had his supporters, and they thought he was going about things the right way. He had witches and wizards clambering for him to take the position of Minister for Magic and when Voldemort disappeared it looked like it was only a matter of time before he got the top job. But then something very unfortunate happened..."

"His son was caught running with a group of Death eaters," Cedric interrupted and Sirius nodded grimly in his direction.

"Crouch's _son_ was caught?" Hermione gasped and the scruffy man went on to explain.

"Yep, he was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban, apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power," he mumbled, tearing the bread in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty I'd imagine. Should have spent more time with his family at home. Ought to have left the office early once in a while...got to know his own son."

"Sirius that's an awful thing to say. He couldn't have known that it would happen..."

The man barked a laugh and shook his head, "I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione. That man cared about nothing but power and his job, family came second anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go, he had dedicated his entire life to becoming Minister for Magic. I think it's just that the kid turned dark on him. It taught him a lesson. It's just a shame that he ended up with that git for a father..."

"_Was_ his son a Death Eater?" Cedric asked after a moment of silence.

"No idea. I was in Azkaban myself when he was bought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out; the boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life on were Death Eaters. But he might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house elf. Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just enough to give his son a trial and, by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy...then he sent him straight to Azkaban.

"Poor kid couldn't have been more than nineteen, I saw the Dementors bringing him in. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days though...they all went quiet in the end...except for when they shrieked in their sleep..."

The deadened look in Sirius' eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though the shutters had closed behind them. They waited for a moment until Cedric gently nudged the man out of it by saying, "So he's still in Azkaban?"

"No," Sirius replied dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they bought him in."

"He _died_?"

"He wasn't the only one. Most go mad in there and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming; the Dementors could sense it and they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived, Crouch being so high up in the Ministry was allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw him, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died shortly afterwards, so I've heard. Grief. She just wasted away like the boy. Crouch never came back for the body, so the Dementors buried him outside the fortress, I watched them do it."

Sirius stopped talking for a moment and picked up the flask of pumpkin juice, draining it with a few long draughts; then sensing that the older boy had something to say he looked meaningfully in Cedric's direction. "What is it?"

"How did you survive?"

"In Azkaban?" the man asked and seeing the nod he sighed, scratching his face. "Hope. I knew I was innocent and I held onto that. I hoped I'd get to see Harry and Remus...and that I'd get to kill that traitorous son of a bitch Wormtail...That'll do for now, it'll make sense when Harry explains it all later on. But now you can just know that I made a promise to myself in there that I would fulfil my duty as godfather and that I would do everything in my power to protect Harry. From anything, no matter if it's Voldemort himself or...someone else who maybe might not mean to hurt him." Cedric shifted uncomfortably at that, more than aware of the threat in his words. "That's how I survived."

"And Crouch?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Crouch lost it all just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment a hero, poised to become Minister for Magic...next his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonoured and, so I've heard, a big drop in popularity. One the boy had died people started feeling more sympathetic towards him, and started asking how a nice lad from a good family could go so badly astray. The conclusion was that Barty never really cared much for him and Fudge got the top job while Crouch was shunted to the Department of International Magical Co-operation."

Harry and Cedric looked at each other for a moment before the conversation turned elsewhere.

* * *

Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes. "What time is it?"

Harry checked his watch and then remembered that it hadn't been working since it had spent an hour in the lake. He'd have to ask Cedric if he could fix it later, but the boy was one step ahead of him; pulling out his wand the Hufflepuff muttered something under his breath and tapped the face. Grinning when he saw the second hand start to move once more Harry leant up to press a kiss to Cedric's cheek, chuckling when he blushed under Sirius' gaze.

"It's half three," Hermione interrupted and Cedric relaxed when the man turned to look at her.

"You should get back to school," Sirius said solemnly, getting to his feet. "Now listen..." he looked particularly hard at Harry – "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me alright? Just send notes to me here, I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be the ideal opportunity to attack you."

"No one's tried to attack me yet, except a dragon and couple of Grindylows."

Sirius scowled at him and waved a finger in front of him, continuing on in a much firmer voice. "I don't care...I'll breathe freely when this sodding Tournament is over and that's not until June. Don't forget if you're talking about me amongst yourselves call me Snuffles, ok?"

After getting a group nod from everyone he turned his attention to Cedric, "And _you_, I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble. If anything happens to him I'm holding you accountable."

"You have my word sir. I'd...I'd give my own life if I thought it would keep him safe."

"_**Cedric!**_" Harry hissed, but this seemed to please Sirius enough and he tugged the older boy in for a one armed hug, patting him on the back hard.

"Good thing. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this. He's a pretty special kid."

"I agree, but he's not so much of a kid anymore..."

"Standing right here!"

Both of them turned to see Harry huff and fold his arms and they grinned, Sirius his usual wide toothy one and Cedric his crooked half smile, this time showing the smallest amount of canine on his right side. Tugging Harry into a hug Sirius ruffled his hair and after packing away the flask they four teenagers started the treacherous journey back down the mountain.

"So what did you think of him?" Harry asked anxiously once they'd got to safer, flatter ground.

"He's...nice. It's hard to see why they thought he killed all those people..."

"He'd just lost his best friend because their mutual 'friend' betrayed him; I can imagine he'd be pretty pissed off about that. Could come across that he was crazy," Harry retorted bluntly.

Wincing the older boy held his hands up in apology before, taking the dark haired boy's hand. "Point taken, sorry."

From up ahead they heard Ron talking to Hermione, breathing deeply and sighing. "Poor old Snuffles...He must really like you Harry...imagine having to live of _rats_."

Laughing they all finished the short journey back to Hogwarts, Harry and Cedric hand in hand until the steps to the Entrance Hall.


End file.
